


Next of Flighty Broad

by Paech



Series: marylonde family shenanigans [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Earth C (Homestuck), Ectobiology, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fanchilds, Human/Troll Hybrids, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parenthood, Slice of Life, rose and kanaya are trying their best, the others are mostly side, this is mainly a rosemary centric fic btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-06-19 04:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 48,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15502635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paech/pseuds/Paech
Summary: After Rose falls pregnant with Kanaya's baby, motherhood starts taking its toll on the very anxious and unsuspecting couple.





	1. Just A Flu

Mornings were usually the same at the Lalonde-Maryam household. Kanaya would wake up bright and early, leaving Rose to sleep one more hour before trying to get her up through either giving her tiny, soft kisses or carrying her out of the bed and into a chair at the kitchen table. Most of the time the latter worked more than the former. 

Though, this time, Rose was out of the bed quite early in the morning and was vomiting whatever she had eaten yesterday into the toilet. Kanaya jumped out of the bed as soon as she heard the noise, scrambling to the bathroom and donned a look of worry at the sight of Rose hunched over the toilet bowl.

"Rose? Are you okay?!" Kanaya panicked, placing a hand on Rose's shoulder. Rose waved her hand at her as a dismissal. 

"I'm fine, I'm sure it was just what we ate last night." Rose said, reaching a hand to flush away the bile. "We really shouldn't be cooking, y'know." 

Kanaya frowned at Rose's joke. "I know our cooking is horrendous but you've never gotten sick from it, and you've been quite ill for almost four weeks, Rose." 

"Kanaya, it's just a flu, don't worry." Rose assured her, getting up and away from the toilet with Kanaya's unneeded help. 

"Then if it is a flu like you say, I advise you to rest a bit more." Kanaya told her, Rose obliged quickly and slid into the bed. 

Kanaya bit her lip, hesitating for awhile. "I have to go back to the caverns today, are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?" 

Rose nodded, "Dave is coming over later on today, so you don't have to fret too much, dear." 

Kanaya sighed, pressing a kiss to Rose's forehead before going over to the closet to pick out an outfit to wear for the day. 

* * *

Dave dipped a tortilla chip inside a small bowl of hot sauce, watching his sister rummage through the fridge. She started grumbling when she couldn't find what she wanted, only pulling out a water bottle and then closing the fridge. 

"I thought Kanaya had saved that tupperware of Alternian food." Rose complained, plopping down on the couch next to Dave. 

Dave raised an eyebrow as he bit into his tortilla chip. 

"I thought you said you didn't like troll food?" Dave questioned, swiping his tongue over his lips for stray blots of sauce.

"I think I was a bit too harsh to judge it, Dave, Alternian food has its own decent flavor that I actually do enjoy." Rose said, opening her water bottle. 

"If you consider 'shit' a nice flavor, I'm gonna be concerned," Dave stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Also, Rose, you dead ass almost threw up when Kanaya served you troll food like last month. Whenever Kanaya would make troll food, you'd just stick with eating uncooked ramen noodles." 

"I don't think me wanting to eat troll food is the most unusual thing that's happened to me, Dave." Rose sighed. 

"What do you mean?" Dave inquired, picking up another tortilla chip.

 "I've been vomitting since yesterday, and I've had cramps for the past two weeks," Rose told him with a masked worrying tone. "I think it might be because I haven't gotten my period yet this month, but I've established that it's most likely a flu."

Dave narrowed his eyes at Rose behind his shades, tossing another tortilla chip covered in red sauce into his mouth. 

"Rose, I don't wanna freak you out or anything, but it kinda sounds like you're pregnant." Dave proposed. Rose's eyes widened at Dave's interpretation, a shocked look was plastered over her face but immediately got replaced with an unbelievable expression.

"I doubt I'm pregnant, Dave." Rose bluntly said, completely throwing his statement out the window.

"Are you sure? It really does sound like it with what you've been feeling lately, especially the weird craving part." Dave pointed out to her.

"Yeah, but I also don't think trolls can  _even_  impregnate humans!" Rose huffed. 

Dave hummed, "don't trolls have like heat cycles? What if that type of shit plays in on however they have kids?" 

Rose opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it closed when she thought it over. She remembered Kanaya had told her once that heat cycles  _were_  a time for trolls to reproduce, but trolls didn't exactly have an internal organ to carry grubs in, which is why they turned to the Mother Grub for that instance. 

But her and Kanaya were different species? What kind of chance was there that Kanaya could've gotten Rose pregnant? The last time she and Kanaya were intimate, Rose recalled, was when Kanaya had been in one of her cycles....

Rose felt so overwhelmed that she didn't even notice she was hunched over the couch with her hands covering her mouth, bile stung at the back of her throat and she desperately wanted -  _needed_  - to vomit. 

A gentle hand was seated at Rose's back, causing the blonde to snap out of her thoughts. She turned to look at her brother, who looked almost unfazed if it weren't for a worried scrunch of his eyebrows. 

Dave rubbed short circles on Rose's back, waiting for any sign that Dave could tell Rose was calm. Rose took a deep breath, and then took another sip of her water. 

"Look, Rose," Dave started, pulling his hand away as Rose leaned her back into the couch. "I'll go buy you a pregnancy test if you want, just to make sure it  _isn't_  a flu, which I'm pretty sure is a lie and you're most definitely pregnant with Kanaya's kid."

Rose muttered. "Sure, Dave."

* * *

Kanaya came through the door with an exhausted expression, the caverns always managed to take away most of her energy. One of the many cats that they had adopted brushed against her leg, its mottled coat glistening in the light. Kanaya kneeled down to give her cat a quick pat before she spotted Rose at the kitchen table, she seemed to not have noticed Kanaya come in because she didn't make any sort of reaction. 

"Rose?" Kanaya called out, removing her coat and setting it on the couch.  

The blonde perked up and turned her head towards Kanaya, a smile forming on her face. 

"Oh, you're home!" Rose shot out of her chair, quickly enveloping her wife into a hug. Kanaya giggled, kissing the top of Rose's head.

"I can see you're excited to have me back." Kanaya grinned, fitting her finger under Rose's chin and lifting it up slightly, so she could kiss Rose properly. It was always felt so  _nice_  to finally kiss Kanaya after she was gone for hours in the caverns, and Rose wasted no time in leaning into the kiss.

Something brushed against Rose's chin, an odd texture it felt like, making Rose pull her head back and find a beige colored band aid curled around Kanaya's finger. 

"A grub bit me when I was feeding it hoofbeast meat." Kanaya said, answering the question that was in Rose's mind. Rose gently grabbed Kanaya's hand, examining the bandage then planting a smooch on it. 

A giggle escaped the jade blood again, along with a shy smile. Kanaya leaned down to kiss her wife, but it only lasted for a few seconds before Rose reeled away. 

"Wait, Kanaya-" Rose muttered, looking Kanaya right in the eye. "I found out why I've not been well for the past weeks." 

"Oh?" Kanaya mused, running her bandaged finger across Rose's jaw.

Rose let out a sigh, straightening herself up. 

"Kanaya, I'm pregnant." Rose said all in one breath. Kanaya's mouth went agape and her eyes went as big as an owl's. She obviously really wanted to say something, at least Rose hoped she did, but nothing left her mouth. The troll couldn't process it, she couldn't understand. 

"I - how? This - this doesn't make sense, can trolls and humans reproduce?" Kanaya sounded baffled, her hand had been pulled away from Rose's face and hovering against her lips. 

"Given our current situation, I'd say so." Rose replied, rather dull. 

"But how could this happen?" Kanaya asked, looking down at Rose's abdomen. 

"I already speculated a reason why, and it involves heat cycles." Rose started, "You said heat cycles were supposed to be the only time trolls would be able to reproduce, correct? And the last time we copulated was when you were going through a cycle, Kanaya." 

The troll stared at Rose, processing the information. Soon enough, she let out a groan and slid her hand over her face. 

"Rose, I'm so sorry, I - I didn't know this could happen, I should've expected it." Kanaya apologized, her words muffled from her hand. With a sigh, Rose placed her head on Kanaya's shoulder. 

"Kanaya, you and I both had no knowledge whatsoever that this could happen, you don't have to blame yourself." Rose murmured. Kanaya lowered her hand, now looking down at the floor. 

The two were silent, only their breathing was heard. Rose shifted her head closer to Kanaya's neck, huffing into it. All Rose could think about was figuring out a plan on what to do about her and Kanaya's baby-

Wait.

Her and Kanaya's baby. A  _hybrid._  

Rose completely forgot that the baby was going to be a  _hybrid_. She wasn't sure if a human/troll mixed baby even existed on Earth C yet, there wasn't a documented one she had heard of at least. Having to take care of an infant was already intimidating, but a hybrid that had a diet of a grub and an attitude of a human child sounded drastic. Rose wasn't sure if she would be a good guardian either, and she assumed Kanaya wasn't exactly ready to take care of something that would depend on her for eighteen years instead of the usual routine at the caverns, where grubs would eventually be adopted. 

"Rose, I don't know what to do." Kanaya finally punctuated the silence between them. Rose looked up at Kanaya, the same worried expression she had early in the morning was on her face again. 

"Me neither." Rose agreed, she stayed quiet for a few seconds before continuing. "Keeping the baby or not is always a difficult decision." 

Kanaya let out a huff, her brows knitting in concentration. "Should we retain this offspring?"

Rose hesitated, burying her nose back in Kanaya's shoulder. 

"I - I don't know, my mind is mostly preoccupied with fretting about whether or not I'd be...a perfect mother, if we do choose to keep it, that is," Rose admitted, waiting for the statement to settle in before continuing. "I didn't exactly have a splendid mother growing up, and you definitely know that, so I really don't have any... _good_  examples of how to remotely even be a good parent." 

Kanaya slightly shifted her head towards the shoulder Rose had her face buried in, "Rose, do you really think that? I sincerely believe you'd be an astounding mother, given by how outstanding you are at nurture grubs when you volunteer to help at the caverns." 

Rose smiled a little into Kanaya's shoulder. 

"I'm still worried that there could be a possibility that I'd end up like my mother." Rose continued. 

"Nonsense, I am absolutely positive you'd be able to give an infant of our own a favorable amount of affection." Kanaya assured, taking Rose's face into her hands and planting a great deal of kisses on her wife's face. 

Rose was grinning by now, which was something Kanaya was glad to see at the moment more than anything. 

"And what about the fact of the baby being a hybrid?" Rose asked in the middle of kisses. Kanaya hummed, pressing a kiss to Rose's nose. 

"It does sound a bit frightening on raising a troll-human hybrid, but I think it can't be that difficult." Kanaya answered. "I mean, it's not like we're too broadly different from it, it'll be apart of both our species so I'm sure we would be able to decipher what exactly it needs." 

Rose hummed, lazily meeting Kanaya's lips with hers. Rose sighed contently into the kiss, her tension and worry finally chipping away.  

"So, then, I'd assume we're keeping it." Rose said after a minute, reeling her face away from Kanaya's. 

"Do you want to?" Kanaya murmured. 

After a few seconds of thinking and affirming what she wanted, Rose came to a conclusion. She lightly shrugged at her wife, wrapping her arms around her neck. 

"After our conversation, I don't see why not." Rose declared, receiving a smile from Kanaya and then another smooch to her nose. "Also, I'm sure you'd make a perfect mother too, you know." 

Kanaya's smile grew larger, a giddy noise escaping her mouth as she leaned down to kiss Rose once more.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Kanaya are so hard to write but god I love them so much <333


	2. New Addition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting the second chapter sooner! I've been really busy as of lately. And I also apologize again if the chapter is a bit short, I kinda wanted to rush myself so people wouldn't think I abandoned this fic already lol
> 
> Also, I added a timeskip to when Rose and Kanaya's baby is born bc the main purpose of this fic is about them learning how to raise their kid (and also because I'm not comfortable enough to write abt pregnancy because I'm worried I might attract readers that I really don't want) I'll probably make a short drabble to the series about Rose and Kanaya going through Rose's pregnancy if I ever do feel comfy with it though!

A tiny, light gray chubby hand latched onto a much larger pale finger. Soft whines were emitted from the owner of said chubby hand, as another finger brushed across her cheek.  

"Lilith," An almost quiet coo was heard from Rose. Carefully, she shifted the mocha colored blanket the hybrid baby was buried in, trying to help Kanaya get a much better view of their daughter. 

Silky, black hair covered the top of her head, with two troll shaped ears resting at each side of her head. No horns were detected to be apart of her appearance at first, but a simple brush through her hair with slow fingers would notice the odd bumps on her head. 

Her human DNA had been theorized to be accountable for that part, stunting its growth. 

Four weeks ago, during Rose's sixth trimester, an incident had happened on one of her visits to Roxy's house. Amidst of their conversations, sharp pains had punctured Rose's sides, leading to a very panicked Roxy and an immediate trip to the nearest hospital. 

Meanwhile, Kanaya had been at home sewing more clothes for their child, the majority of it being frilly dresses.

Though, the last dress wasn't able to be finished and topped off with a ribbon before her phone went off.  

The call sent Kanaya into shock, then right out the door with as much speed as a rainbow drinker has.  

Once Kanaya had arrived, she spotted Roxy sitting in the waiting room. As soon as Roxy had noticed her, she jumped out of her chair and started explaining to Kanaya about what happened and what the doctors had informed her.  

It took an entire day to get more information about Rose's condition, and an entire day on waiting for the baby to be delivered. 

Around 5am, a cold morning on August 7th, the hybrid baby had been born and wrapped up in a fluffy blanket with a pink beanie perched on her head.  

When Kanaya entered the room and caught a glimpse of Rose, who was perfectly healthy and fine in Kanaya's eyes, holding the bundled up baby, her worries washed away and was replaced with complete adoration. 

Rose wasn't even able to greet her wife before she'd been squeezed and showered in kisses by Kanaya.  

It took even longer than the waiting part to name her. Rose had tried to get Kanaya to hurry, jokingly telling her to name her quick before Dave and Roxy had beat her to the punch and gave her a nickname themselves. 

Soon enough, they'd have to depart from her and let her be sent to an NICU. Rose and Kanaya had hoped she was all right, and definitely wished that her troll and human genes hadn't clashed horribly to cause anymore danger. 

Now, though, Lilith was healthy enough to go back with her mothers but was scheduled to come back to the hospital for another examination. They had insisted, as well, that once she turned one years old to visit a doctor's office to see if her growth was coming along nicely.

Despite all the worries and plenty of scares, Rose and Kanaya had treated her like any normal baby since the weeks she was born. 

They did, however, make a guide about how to handle her for their friends to follow. Should there be any mistakes like accidentally holding her fragile being in a wrong angle, two panicked mothers would be ready to snatch up the newborn from someone's arms. 

The fragile part, of course, being exaggerated from the married couple.  

On a different topic, her diet wasn't exactly easy to satisfy either. 

She had been on a drastic diet that went from being fed baby formula to eating raw meat. It must've been her mixed genes at work again, Rose and Kanaya guessed.  

These moments were always rare. Where Lilith would be sound asleep and her parents were able to relax. 

Kanaya brushed her fingers through her wife's scalp, humming as she did so. 

"I think," Kanaya started, letting her eyes wander back to her baby. "Maybe, when she's a little older, I could take her to the caverns to socialize with the grubs?" 

"Do you think they'd be a bit rambunctious for her? I mean, it's not out of the line that she plays the same way, but for safety's sake." Rose uttered.

"You're right, but I have been examining her enough to see that she does have grub instincts - or at least, half of them." Kanaya pursed her lips, sliding her hand down to the side of Rose's face. 

"Mm, perhaps she  _could_  socialize with a grub when she's around the one year mark," Rose propped herself up on her elbow, her hand reaching up to touch the back of Kanaya's cooler hand. " _But_ only with Vriska and Terezi's."

Oh. That's right, Kanaya thought. 

After the second week of Lilith's arrival, Vriska and Terezi had shown up to their house with an egg tightly held in the tealblood's arms. There was no doubt the two trolls contacted and asked John to rerun the ecto machines, instead of getting the Mother Grub involved. 

Kanaya speculated on the sudden upcoming of Vriska and Terezi having a grub together as them seeing that her and Rose had just had Lilith, and then making the troll couple strive to have one of their own as well, just to have what Rose and Kanaya had.

Kanaya could recall a small conversation she heard from them regarding grubs, but that was about two months ago and it was quick and memoryless. 

Lilith shifted in her blanket again, making Rose lower her down on the bed.

"I think it's feeding time for her, dear." Rose murmured, now sitting completely up. 

Kanaya mimicked her, scooping up Lilith into her arms while Rose got up from the bed and stretched. 

"Meat or milk?" Kanaya raised an eyebrow, looking up at Rose. 

Rose shrugged, a mellow smile on her face. "Whatever our mismatched joy wants." 


	3. Ano Nuevo

* * *

Rose blew away steam off from her mug of hot chocolate, hesitantly taking a sip afterwards while she walked over to the living room. 

Kanaya sat on the couch, with only a book in hand and large blanket covering her and almost the entire space of the couch.

Rose plopped down next to her wife, shimming into the covers beside her. Kanaya took her eyes away from the book when she felt a nudge on her arm, being greeted to the sight of Rose curling up to her side. 

Rose blew the steam away from her mug once more, causing the heat to be pushed towards Kanaya's face.  

The jadeblood scrunched up her face, Rose giggled at the sight. 

"Have you checked up on Lilith yet?" Kanaya asked, leaning into Rose's side.  

"Mhm," Rose hummed, taking another sip. "She's still asleep in her crib, so this'll give us enough alone time for now." 

"I suppose, meanwhile, we can make plans for, um, New Year's as you call it." Kanaya said, curling the top of the page of her book into a dog ear and closing it shut. 

"It is pretty soon." Rose agreed. 

"In  _two_ days, so I would say more than soon." Kanaya corrected. Rose tapped her finger against the glass of the mug, pondering whatever in her mind.  

"What are we going to do on New Year's? Like you specified, it is soon, and I haven't heard anything from my friends." Rose said, laying her cup down on their coffee table. 

"Maybe, we can just spend New Year's just here? With you, myself, and Lilith," Kanaya suggested. "I think it is best, anyways, Lilith is still only a few months old, perhaps big parties will cause her to get a bit upset." 

"You make a point," Rose shrugged. "I'll ask Roxy if she and Callie would like to join us in our little party, then." 

"And Dave?"

"Yes, Dave and Karkat as well." Rose clarified. 

Kanaya narrowed her eyes as she thought a bit more, realizing she forgot  one more strilonde on her list. 

"What about Dirk?" Kanaya wondered. 

"He's usually awfully busy around this time, only Roxy is able to get him to come to small occasions like these." Rose explained. 

"Speaking of Dirk, actually, has he seen Lilith more than once when she was born?" Kanaya asked, raising her eyebrow a tad. 

"Well, besides the day she was born, he's seen Lilith when it was Thanksgiving, but that's about it." Rose said with a shrug of her shoulders. 

"Not even on your birthday?"

"To be fair, she was sleeping the entire day and would get absolutely fussy when I tried bringing her down to show her off." Rose answered. 

Kanaya did recall Rose going up into their bedroom a couple of times on that day, and hearing soft shushes and tiny whines when she passed their room. 

"Rose, excuse me for a second but, while I am trying to get used to the concept of family and the conditions around it, shouldn't Dirk be visiting his, um, granddaughter? Or niece, I suppose, more often?" Kanaya sat up, a quizzical look on her face.  

Rose hummed, resting her head on Kanaya's shoulder.  

"I guess you're right, though really I'm assuming Dirk is most likely not really good with babies, as in he doesn't exactly  _know_ what to do with them in the first place." Rose told her, a muffled laugh coming from her lips.

"I still remember when he first held Lilith in the hospital, his arms looked embarrassingly stiff and it was only for approximately five seconds that he gave her back to Roxy." Rose recounted, making Kanaya erupt into little fits of laughter. 

"That was honestly the most hilarious thing I saw for that entire month." Kanaya snorted, Rose laughed along. 

"Dirk really is putting an effort to being a good uncle grandfather." Rose snickered. Kanaya abruptly stopped for a moment, questioning the oddity of the mashed up title with a blink of her eyes. 

"Uncle Grandfather?" Kanaya repeated, looking at her wife, "I don't think I've ever heard of that before." 

"I mean, technically he is her grandpa, ectobiology-wise." Rose smirked. 

Kanaya sniffed, leaning against Rose with a shrug. 

"I suppose so." Kanaya replied. 

"But - New Year's," the jade blood brought up again. "Here, right?"

Rose nodded, resting her head on Kanaya's shoulder and closing her eyes before humming out a 'mhm'. 

* * *

Lilith cooed at Kanaya, her mother holding her up in the air. 

Kanaya smiled, bringing her down to kiss her cheek. Lilith giggled in response, a toothless, carefree grin plastered on her face. 

 A white cat brushed up against Kanaya's skirt, successfully getting her attention and meowing at her immediately. 

Kanaya chuckled, bending down a bit with Lilith tightly clasped in her arms. With a free hand, she gave a light pet to their one of many house cats, scratching behind its ear and getting a loud purr out of it. 

"Happy New Year's to you as well." Kanaya said, shifting Lilith a bit so she could have a proper view of the cat. 

Coming down the stairs, Rose had her phone against her ear and was talking to who Kanaya assumed was Roxy. 

The conversation already seemed to come to an end, as Rose said her goodbyes to the other person over the line and hung up her phone. 

"Roxy can't come for tonight, apparently Callie came down with a cold." Rose said, making her way over to her wife and daughter. Kanaya hummed, fixing a tuft in Lilith's hair. 

"Ah, well," Kanaya shrugged, kissing her wife's forehead. "We  _did_ plan for this to be a small family event." 

"I'm presuming that Dave ended up doing something small with Karkat and Jade at their house, as well." Rose told her.  

Rose snatched Lilith from Kanaya's arms, carefully moving Lilith so she had her head propped up against her shoulder. 

Kanaya moved in closer to Rose, cupping her face and pressing a kiss to Rose's lips. 

"Perhaps we can turn on the television and watch an obnoxious countdown channel, filled with cheers and sudden glomping from strangers once the clock turns midnight." Kanaya prolonged, running her left hand through Rose's blonde hair. 

Glomping, Rose thought with a snort. 

"I'll grab the apple cider from the fridge for the occasion." Rose stated, pressing another kiss to her wife's lips, feeling Kanaya smile against her. 

Parting from each other, Rose made sure Lilith was secured in her arms before striding over to the kitchen as Kanaya searched for the remote. Somewhere beneath the piles of scattered clothes, cat beds, and cups laid the remote, and Kanaya begged to the universe with exasperation that she and Rose wouldn't have to spend the first hour of the New Year looking for their lost remote.  


	4. Spiders and Dragons & Eggs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know how to write Vriska and Terezi, so if you have some nice tips about how to write them for future references that'd be really helpful!!

"Lilith Porrim Lalonde-Maryam," Kanaya huffed, retracting the piece of meat clipped between her fingers. 

Lilith scrunched up her eyebrows, her jade green orbs staring keenly at Kanaya and trying to copy her frustrated expression. 

" _Please_  eat slowly, you almost bit off Mama's fingers." Kanaya sighed. Lilith cooed, obliviously mashing her small hands on the plate of her highchair. Her claws, colored black due to more genetic difficulties, scraped alongside the plate, leaving white lines against a pale lavender palette. 

Kanaya shushed her, lifting her arms up and away. 

"You really don't give me a break, do you?" She playfully said, placing the chunk of meat in front of Lilith. The hybrid baby happily took it, while her mother picked another piece from the container in her right hand. 

Rose walked into the kitchen, a cat following her at her heel. Loud meows were emitted from the cat, making Lilith glance down from the highchair and squeal with delight. 

Opening the top cabinets, Rose grabbed a can of wet food, the cat's meows growing stronger as it placed its paws firmly against the bottom cupboards to try and view the counter. 

Kanaya turned her gaze towards the cat, a small giggle escaping her lips at how curious it was. 

At the sound of the can being cracked open, a swarm of cats trotted into the kitchen, demanding meows coming from each of them. 

Rose, while trying her hardest to get through an army of cats gathering around her without stepping on any of their paws, made her way to the bowls before grabbing a few more cans after counting how many exactly were hungry.

Lilith went back to facing Kanaya, opening her mouth and making coos to try and get her attention. 

"Oh, sorry," Kanaya said, picking another chunk. "Sorry, my dear."

"Kanaya, did you eat breakfast yet?" Rose asked, dumping the wet food into one of the metal bowls. "We have more mouths to feed than just our daughter and cats, y'know?"

The jadeblood hesitated to answer, trying to recall whether or not she did make herself something to eat.

"Ah - I don't think so,  _but_  I do have to make sure Lilith is fed first before I get into anything else." Kanaya stated firmly. 

"I can feed Lily myself, as well, and I will do so right after I'm done with our cats so you can properly take care of yourself." Rose responded back, opening another can as the smell of wet cat food wafted to her nose, causing her to grimace in disgust. 

Kanaya looked up at Rose, her eyebrow arched with a smirk on her face. "That sure is quite an ironic statement, about taking care of myself in a better fashion when the person who claimed that happened to be no one else but Rose Lalonde herself."

"Rose Lalonde-Maryam, for your information." Rose retorted. 

Lilith reached forward to Kanaya, making grabby hands at her. Kanaya looked down at the container in her hand in response, only to find that it was empty already. 

"You've finished it already, Lily." Kanaya told her, getting up from her chair to wash the container. 

Rose quickly nabbed away the plastic container, shaking her head.  

"Kanaya, I'll take care of it, you should make yourself something to eat instead." Rose said, giving her wife a gentle tap to shoo her away.

Taking a step back, Kanaya opened the fridge, searching for anything microwaveable. She was definitely not going to try to make a breakfast that involved having to cook; she was already terrible at it when wide awake, she didn't want to imagine how burnt her food would be while she was drowsy from Lilith keeping her up at night and waking her as early as 4am. 

Luckily for Kanaya, there was leftovers of the moderately-good spaghetti she and Rose had made from last night. 

After scrubbing the dirty container, Rose placed the container on the side and wiped her hands on her skirt. 

Rose lifted Lilith up from her highchair, spotting a few dark marks on her cat shirt caused from her breakfast. 

"I think it may be time to change you, Lily." Rose hummed, resting Lilith's head on her shoulder as she babbled away with her fist in her mouth. 

As Rose exited the kitchen, Kanaya took out a plate and fork, setting it in front of the noisy microwave. 

The jadeblood perched her elbow on the counter, a hand under her chin as she waited for her food. A cat trotted up towards Kanaya, brushing its fur against Kanaya's red skirt. 

A meow escaped the cat, looking up at Kanaya as she stared back at it. 

She reached down to pet the cat's head, giving it a tiny scratch behind its black ear. 

The cat meowed again as Kanaya slowly pulled back her hand, flicking its tail before walking out of the kitchen.

Kanaya shrugged, taking out the tupperware from the microwave once it started beeping. 

Another meow sounded out, presumably from the same cat that brushed up against earlier. 

Kanaya dumped the spaghetti onto her plate, grabbing a fork twirling it into the seemingly dry noodles and stepping out of the kitchen. 

She saw the black cat at the front door, sitting at the side of it and then meowing again at Kanaya.

"Oh, you wanted to go outside?" Kanaya said, the cat got up and meowed repeatedly at her, almost like as if it was relieved Kanaya understood what they wanted. 

With a free hand, Kanaya opened the door a bit, enough for her cat to pass through. 

Unexpectedly, just as soon as Kanaya was about to close the door, something _pushed_ open the door with bursting energy. Kanaya's eyes widen, almost tripping backwards if it wasn't for her hand still clasped around the door knob. 

Her fork had slid off her plate, however, dropping onto the floor. 

Kanaya quickly picked it up, examining it with a disgusted look and deciding not to stick it back in her food. 

The two intruders had the door wide open, the shortest one of the two carrying a blanket in her arm. 

" _Heeeeeeeey, Kanaya._ " The tall one greeted, looking around the house. "Where's the other Lalonde-Maryam?"

"Vriska?" Kanaya raised an eyebrow, taking a step back from the door to see them properly.

"And me!" Terezi called out, her usual toothy grin plastered on her face. 

"Um," Kanaya looked down at her plate. "What brings you two over here - exactly?" 

Vriska shrugged, her and Terezi walking further into the house and making their way to the couch. 

"Can't we just do a little visit?" Vriska grinned lightly, scooting a bit closer to Terezi once she sat down. 

Terezi snorted, placing the blanket in her lap. 

"Actually, Kanaya, we wanted to come over to ask you something about -"

"I wasn't expecting visitors today." Rose interrupted from the stairs, holding Lilith who was clad in a fuzzy, light brown onesie that had standard wings with a simple design attached to the back. On top of the hoodie had two small black eyes that were accompanied with equally as small moth antennae.

Kanaya had sewed the custom moth onesie when Rose requested so for their daughter to wear. Kanaya had almost declined, thinking it might look ridiculous to dress Lilith in a bug onesie, though she cared more about her wife's enjoyment than her own picky sense of fashion that her child would wear. 

Soon enough, Lilith preferred wearing her bug-like pajamas over her other sleepwear and day clothes. 

Vriska lit up at the sight of Lilith, a playful smirk crossing her face.

"What's up, Little Fangs?" Vriska called out, alerting Lilith of her aunts' presence. A giddy smile swept over Lilith's, squirming in her human mother's arms. 

"Lilith wait." Rose grunted, trying to keep an overexcited six month old in check. 

"Why do you call her Little Fangs? She barely has any teeth." Terezi cackled, questioning her matesprit.

"I mean, she already looks almost like an  _exact_ Kanaya copy, if you take out all her human features and give her horns," Vriska described. "Just wait until her fangs grow, _if_ she has fangs in the first place." 

"I'm quite sure she'll have fangs." Kanaya stated, before going back into the kitchen to retrieve a much cleaner fork. 

"Fangs are practically a staple in the Maryam bloodline." Terezi said, leaning back onto the couch. "I think it's just jadebloods in general."

"Personally, the only thing I don't think Lilith has inherited from Kanaya is her rainbow drinker glow," Rose added in, putting Lilith down on a placemat with her toys scattered about. "Then again, Lilith is a mystery to us all, I could be wrong and her mystical hybrid being could actually light up like Kan's."

Vriska and Terezi got off the couch, both going next to Lilith on the carpet. 

"Did you miss us, Lilith?" Terezi asked, the blanket still in her arms. 

Lilith looked up at her self proclaimed aunt Terezi, staring at the red blanket bunched in her arms. 

Lilith let out a 'bah' sound, grasping onto the blanket.

"Why did you guys come over? I thought you two would be busy with your upcoming grub,  if it hasn't already hatched." Rose asked, sitting down on the couch. 

"Well, that's kind of why we came." Vriska answered, grabbing the blanket from Terezi and unwrapping it, revealing a teal egg. Lilith cooed at it, diverting her attention to Vriska. 

"We wanted to ask Kanaya if it's normal for a grub to take this long to hatch, it's already been a few months and grubs usually take about 2-3 months to hatch." Terezi explained to her. 

Kanaya walked back into the living room, a dripping utensil now in hand. 

"Kan?" Rose voiced out. 

"Yes?" Kanaya sat down next to Rose, eating her food. 

"Terezi and Vriska may have a problem with their grub." Rose said, making Kanaya look at the couple and then spotting the egg buried in the blanket. 

"It hasn't hatched?" Kanaya cocked an eyebrow. 

The two trolls shook their head. 

"We thought you might know what's wrong? I'm sure there's been like tons of eggs at the caverns that take a little longer than expected to hatch." Terezi coughed. 

Lilith laid her tiny hand on the egg, letting out a short amount of 'o's, then poking it not so gently. 

"Lilith, don't poke it." Rose sternly said, causing Lilith to sit back and watch the egg. 

"Well," Kanaya bit her lip, taking another bite of her spaghetti. "The has been eggs like that before in the caverns, but - but it's common that when it's already been roughly six months, the egg is proclaimed to be.....deceased." Kanaya said with hesitant.

Vriska and Terezi simultaneously looked at Kanaya, the color of their face draining. 

"Wh - what do you mean? That doesn't make any sense, it's not like there's something wrong with either of us, so then it wouldn't just randomly happen to our grub." Vriska huffed.

"It's not that you two would have any control of it in the first place, Vriska, sometimes the grubs happen to be not strong enough to break through the egg, causing them to sort of just - stay inside and start to depart." Kanaya explained, noticing that their breathing seemed to slow down with heavy puffs of air through their nose. 

Quickly, to calm their nerves for a minute, she added in, " _But,_ I mean, it's not a rare case for grubs to simply be too lazy to break through. Besides, not all grubs are the same with timing." Kanaya said, putting her plate on the coffee table.

Fortunately, it did manage to comfort both Vriska and Terezi, even if they were most likely hanging onto a thin string of hope that their grub could still be alive and kicking. 

"Can we just," Vriska paused for awhile. "help them out of it?"

"That could damage the grub in the process, I've heard," Rose spoke up. 

"One of the trolls at the caverns once noticed an egg was overdue to hatch, so they had elaborated a plan in their head to help the grub get out but in the midst of poking a hole into the shell something had accidentally punctured the grub and it died." Rose continued.

A recall of the memory passed Rose's mind, of the horrified expression the troll carried, of the broken shell hugged tightly to their chest as they confronted to another helper in the caverns what happened. They didn't come back until three months had passed that the troll got over it. 

Terezi sighed, "So, the only thing we can do right now is wait?" 

"Yes. If anything happens or any other concerns arise, you can always message me," Kanaya uttered. "Just have patience." 


	5. Hatch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> egg time

A teal egg was comfortably nestled in three thin blankets, two rough couch pillows laid on each side of it.

Two trolls hovered over it with bated breath, their hands supporting their head as they looked upon the egg with anticipation.

A week had gone by since they asked Rose and Kanaya for help, they were starting to get more worried as each day passed by. 

Vriska and Terezi kept a watchful eye on the unborn grub, making sure to not leave it alone anywhere, not even in the comfort of their own house. 

grimAuxiliatrix [GA]  began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]

GA: Terezi Are You There

GA: I Tried Messaging Vriska To See If Anything Had Happen With Your Grub Yet But She Was Not Answering 

GA: Are You Two Okay 

The curtains of their hive countered the fading sunset, sprays of blues and pinks mixing together out in the sky in contrast to the bright calming orange of the sun as it gradually disappeared behind the fluid, moving oceans. 

Vriska sighed, reaching to touch the smooth surface of the round egg. She rested her head on one of the pillows, watching Terezi get up from her spot. 

Where are you going?" Vriska inquired. 

"I'm gonna get chalk." Terezi said, disappearing into the hallway of their small hive.

Vriska wanted to ask why, but she was too tired to utter another word. 

' _I'm sure the kid's probably just lazy'_ Vriska thought, shifting her head to look at the egg. ' _Yeah. Lazy. It'll come trembling out and start chittering like nothing in its snuggleplanes_ _.'_

She just had to have patience for it to emerge, like what Kanaya had instructed them to do. 

Soon, they'll be having a spoiled little wriggler running around and making their hive messy. Like what Rose and Kanaya's daughter does. 

She needed patience.

Patience. Easy. 

Her and Terezi had been waiting for six months already, what's another two weeks or a probably a month? 

Vriska took a deep, steady breath, then breathing it out fairy quickly. 

The ceruleanblood laid on her back, placing her hands up above her head and next to her horns. 

Terezi came back with a single chalk in her mouth, two others in her hand. 

She plopped back down on the other side of the teal egg, taking ahold of the soft orange colored chalk and biting into it. 

"When do you think it'll come out?" Terezi voiced. 

Vriska shrugged, "I wish this shit didn't have to take so long."

"Maybe the grub just doesn't want to come out because it'll have to see your ugly, emotional face." Terezi joked with a wide grin. Vriska rolled her eyes at her. 

"Har har," she smirked, sitting up. "It doesn't want to come out because you'll probably give it a lecture about serving justice when it's barely a minute old."

"How did you know?" Terezi fake gasped, her glasses drooping low enough to see her bloodred eyes. 

Vriska let out a 'pft' sound, bending over enough to place a kiss on Terezi's chalk smeared cheek. 

Teal covered lightly on her cheeks, an appreciative smile on her face. 

"You know, we should really stop calling the grub 'it'." Terezi told her, as Vriska sat back down on her spot next to the egg. 

Vriska hummed, puffing a strand of hair away from her face. 

"I mean, we really don't what the grub is identify as in the first place." Vriska sniffed, shrugging her shoulders a bit. 

"Isn't that up to us? Grubs don't exactly have anyway to indicate their gender." Terezi said, thinking it over. A minute or two passed in silence, before the tealblood perked up. 

"How about we just pick some name we like and go from there!" Terezi enthusiastically said, "and if the grub doesn't like it or whatever, it can just change itself." 

Vriska stared at the ceiling in thought.

Maybe that idea isn't bad at all. As the grub grows older, it can choose for itself whether or not they still wanted to stick with whatever its moms identified it as. Naming it and also not referring to the grub as 'it' could spark more hope in Vriska and Terezi as well, giving it more of an appearance that it  _will_ arrive someday. 

 "So, got any ideas for names?" Terezi asked. "I was kinda thinking Viokli."

Vriska scrunched her nose, then shook her head in disagreement.

"Nah, I thought something like," Vriska paused for effect. " _Aranha_." 

"Aranha?" Terezi raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that literally another term for spider."

Vriska cackled, her arms perching on her raised knees. 

"It  _is_ my grub, isn't it?" Vriska reminded her, but then forming an 'o' on her lips. "Or, uh,  _she_ is my grub."

"Are you implying Aranha is a girls name, you dumb head?" Terezi poked fun at Vriska. 

"Shut up, it is if I say so." Vriska huffed. 

"Well, I guess Aranha is a good name, but I'm definitely calling her something else behind your back." Terezi stuck out her tongue. 

Vriska rolled her eyes again at her matesprit. 

The ceruleanblood shifted towards Terezi, seated right next to her and laying her head on her shoulder. 

Silence fell throughout the room, both trolls breathing softly into the air and keeping their eyes glued to their egg. 

"How long, really, do you think it - she'll hatch?" Vriska asked. 

Terezi kept quiet for awhile, scratching her the surface of her hand. 

"I don't know." Terezi truthfully responded, moving a bit in her position. "Maybe it'll hatch next week."

"You said that last time, Terezi." Vriska reminded her. 

Terezi huffed, giving her an unsure sound.

Vriska's eyelids started to droop, feeling more drowsy by the minute. All her weight leaned against Terezi, before slumber inevitably whisked both of them away. 

     ********

_Crack_

A noise had punctured the comfortable quietness around the room. The noise, however, went ignored; the only two beings in the room still sleeping. 

_Crack_

Another. Terezi twitched, mumbling something incoherently. 

An annoyed, tired sound came out of Vriska, shifting against Terezi.

_Crack_

By the third unexpected sound, Vriska sniffed and lazily opened her eyes. 

She blinked twice to regulate her eyesight, catching an alarm clock on the floor, showing that the current time was 3:45am.

Then, her eyes peered over to the egg.

She could make out a clear hole on the side, only the size of a thimble.

 Sitting up, Vriska took off her glasses and rubbed away the sleep from her eyes, before placing her glasses back on her face and glancing at the egg. 

The hole was still there, but it started becoming slowly larger as tiny pieces of it chipped away. 

"Holy SHIT." Vriska rapidly shook Terezi for her to get up, causing the tealblood to stir awake with an unpleasant groan. 

"What the hell is your deal?" 

A loud _thud_ sound caught Terezi's attention, her blind eyes widening.

Not a second wasted, Vriska pulled Terezi with her to the hatching egg. Terezi examined the egg, her blurry vision catching the large crack in the egg. They both looked at each other with the same shocked expression.

"She's -"

A chubby teal colored body fell out abruptly, squirming in place as chitters escaped her mouth. 

The matesprits stared down at the new grub in awe, taking in everything about her. 

Her black bug-like claws moved in the air, wanting to be able to move around as her horns scraped at the ground. The horns seemed to be aiming at different directions, the right horn being positively sharp and straight to the side, while the left seemed to curve like Vriska's and forming a hook at the end of it. 

Her eyes were scrunched close before opening them wide. 

Passing her shocked phase, Terezi picked up their grub, adoration overwhelming her mind as the grub locked eyes with her. 

Vriska leaned into Terezi to see the teal grub, making the grub turn her attention to her other mother. She chirped at her parents, her claws stirring. 

"Oh my god," Vriska uttered quietly, a choked up laugh streaming out of her. "It - Aranha's fine! She's here, holy shit." 

Vriska lightly pressed her fingers into Aranha's mussy hair, a warm feeling spreading over her. 

Teal shaded tears strolled down Terezi's face, a massive smile placed on her face that showed off her pointy teeth. 

It wasn't until long Aranha was caught in a tight hug by her mothers, she chirruped repeatedly in annoyance from the smothering. 

GC: K4N4Y4

GC: GU3SS WHO H4TCH3D >:]


	6. parenting is hard when you have a curious hybrid baby

Sounds of metal clanking against each other echoed in the air, accompanied with light humming. Strings of lavender and jade green wool were strewn across the floor, eventually going to be constructed into a cozy scarf, as Rose was half way done. 

In front of the chair that Rose was comfortably seated in, Lilith gazed at the television with her emerald green sippy cup that hosted a ' _Peppa Pig_ ' design printed onto it, an item that her Uncle Dave bought for her in an ironic sense. 

A maine coon was sleeping soundly next to her, while another cat that surrounded her was pawing at the moderately small wings attached to her moth onesie. 

Rose peered over to her daughter, finding that Lilith still seemed to be distracted with whatever cartoons she was watching. 

"Lily, I'm going to go get you and I snack, alright?" Rose set down her knitting needles and the project she was engaged in on the small, rounded table next to her chair. 

"Don't move, okay?" Rose cautiously  told her. Lilith nodded at her, then turned her attention back to the TV. 

Taking one more glance at the six month old hybrid, just to be sure, Rose absconded to the kitchen. 

She opened up the cabinets and searched for anything quick to make, settling for pop tarts when she concluded she couldn't decide anything else. 

Rose, then, pulled out a bowl and grabbed a peach from the almost empty fruit basket, and carefully diced up the peach into wedges. 

Satisfied with the pieces of fruit, she tossed the knife into the sink, and made her way back to the living room with the fruit and her pop tart in hand. 

Indisputably, the blonde expected to see Lilith still nonchalantly watching the TV screen, with the two cats still being close by her. 

Rose's heart skipped a beat when she saw that her hybrid daughter's spot on the floor was empty, save for the slumbering cat not having moved a muscle since Rose left. Her sippy cup was lying on its side, liquid dropping out in a single file and staining the carpet. 

' _Fuck. Why did I leave her alone?!_ ' her thoughts raced as she frantically ran her eyes around the living room. 

"Lilith?"

Hearing an audible squeak coming from the chair she was sitting on, Rose whipped her head to its direction and, without hesitation, immediately made her way to the soft velvet chair.

A whimper was overheard as Rose looked down to see Lilith slumped against the front of the chair and her staring at her pointer finger. 

"Lilith, darling, what's wrong?" she lifted up her daughter after she placed the food on the small table, and with a careful movement of her fingers, Rose unfurled Lilith's hand. 

A tiny, spec of tinted jade green crimson contrasting the light gray of the hybrid's finger caught Rose's eye in an instant. Rose looked back at the round table, noticing one of her needles were hanging out of the basket Kanaya had asked her to use for her knitting equipment. 

A thick ball formed at Rose's throat, causing an indescribable feeling of her breathing seeming to slow down and registering her lungs practically punctured. Lilith was  _hurt_ , even if the injury was as small as a crumb. With the wound being fresh and open, any bacteria could possibly make its way to infect it. What with the potential health troubles of being a hybrid alone, there was already enough on her parents' hands as it is. 

Sharp cries dragged Rose out of her fretful daze,  the hybrid in her arms began culminating into a disgruntled frenzy. 

Rose shifted Lilith around in her arms, resting her daughter's head against her shoulder. After the mishap was dealt with, Rose heavily considered baby proofing her needles and ensuring to set them on a high shelf. The one thing Rose was thankful for was Kanaya not being present at the house yet, her reaction would've included an insistent hospital trip for their daughter's pinprick injury. 

Hesitating on how to deal with the situation for a minute, she moved to the bathroom and scavenged for bandaids and swabs. Rose pulled out a circular container, then a white, smooth box that sported a blue streak across the middle. 

"Let me see your wound, Lilith." Rose murmured, carefully placing her on the toilet seat's lid with her free hand behind her back for support. 

Lilith reluctantly spread out her hand, the tips of her fingers twitching as Rose took a cotton swab and aligned it above the collected dot of blood. 

Gently, the swab pressed against the cut, smearing the blood onto the cotton with light taps. After a few moments, Rose switched the opposite end of the rod and did one more tap on the injured finger, giving it a quick blow then a kiss. 

Lilith giggled, a smile crossing her face that flashed her erupting teeth. 

"At least we know what blood color you have," Rose said, reaching for the box and taking out a single bandaid. "Crimson human red with tinted jade, shouldn't be that astonishing, considering you're already a mix of human\troll qualities on the outside." 

She slowly wrapped her daughter's finger in a fairly oversized bandage, brushing her fingers over the sandy material to certify that the bandaid was firmly stuck onto the tiny finger. 

"Alright, now Lily, my mismatched joy," Rose started, rubbing away the clear tear stains trailing down Lilith's face with her thumb. " _Don't_ touch my knitting needles again, okay? I am sure you just didn't know, since you're still obviously very young." 

Lilith mewled, perching both her hands on Rose's face. Rose hummed, giving her daughter another kiss, this time on her forehead. 

"C'mon, I'll knit you a toy as an apology for leaving my needles exposed like that." Rose scooped her up again, exiting the bathroom after haphazardly putting back the products. 

Rose sat Lilith down on the same spot she was in earlier, in front of the TV with the drowsy cat and a blanket draped on the floor. 

Keeping her word, Rose began knitting a new project. 

As hours passed by, Rose was close to done with the project, patiently knitting a cat looking mouth onto the head of the toy. 

Soon enough, it was finished and Rose got up from her chair. She crouched down to Lilith's height, grabbing the six month old's attention away from shaking her sippy cup repeatedly out of boredom. 

Rose presented her the stuffed doll, a black and white cat with three tentacle limbs protruding from each side of it, beady black eyes sewed onto its face and glistening, along with a pale green nose and a purple bow tie seamlessly wrapped around its neck. 

Lilith stared at it for a moment, seemingly deciding if she liked it or not. Fortunately for Rose, Lilith gladly took the plushie from her hands and gave it a squeeze. 

Rose watched as the tentacle limbs dangled on the ground, a pleasing smile forming on her face. 

The sound of the door being pushed open made Rose glance behind herself, Kanaya entered the house with her eyes glued to her phone's screen. 

"Hello, Kanaya." Rose greeted warmly, their daughter squeaking and holding up the knitted plushie, like as if to show it to her troll parent. 

Kanaya, in response, picked up Lilith and studied the doll in her tiny grasp. 

"Did you knit this for her?" Kanaya piped up, looking at Rose as she hoisted herself up. 

Rose nodded, clearing her throat. "She had an accident earlier, with one of my knitting needles, and I promised to make her something on my behalf." 

Kanaya quirked an eyebrow when she noticed the bandaid, her eyes going wide for a minute. 

"But she's okay! Don't worry!" Rose quickly said, causing her wife's reaction to halt. 

"Well, I'm glad she's fine," Kanaya sighed, kissing the beginning of Lilith's inky black hairline. "But Rose, you need to be more careful! Did you not put your needles in the basket I gave to you?" 

"I did but, ah," Rose shifted her gaze to the side. "I think I might have to keep my needle basket in a more higher, sufficient place." 

Lilith babbled away at Kanaya, her hand reaching up to touch her pointy ears.

"Maybe a box would be sustainable." Kanaya suggested, before her mind clicked and her eyes flew open - though, this time, from surprise. "Rose, did either Terezi or Vriska message you today?"

"No," Rose answered, confusingly furrowing her eyebrows. "Did something happen?" 

"Their grub - last night, it hatched." Kanaya said, adjusting the baby in her arms as Rose's expression turned into a bemused state. "Terezi sent a text to me when it hatched from its egg, and I've been trying to get ahold of her once I checked but she has not been responding at all - neither Vriska." 

Rose took a short amount of time to respond, mindlessly looking at the floor as her thoughts rolled around in her head. Maybe, devastatingly, the grub only managed to be alive and kicking for an hour after its hatching, the couple could be wrapped up in mourning. It didn't aid the possible situation any better that Vriska and Terezi seemed already upset at the plausible idea of the wriggler not being healthy. 

At this thought, Rose became concerned and couldn't just let the silence from the troll couple go unnoticed. "We should go visit them, to see if everything is well over there." 

Kanaya agreed, passing Lilith to her wife in order to take care of a task at hand before they ventured off.

                               ***

Rose knocked on the cold surface of the hive's door, waiting beside her wife with her hands clasped together behind her back. 

Kanaya tugged at Lilith's cherry red dress as the hybrid clutched onto her new doll, she had sewed the dress herself for Lilith last week. Despite the occasion, they were still going out in public, and Kanaya was determined to make sure that every citizen on Earth C knew how beautiful her own daughter was. 

Not long after Rose had knocked, the door opened for the two to be greeted with a messy looking but ecstatic sharp toothed troll. 

"Rose! Kanaya! I'm glad you guys came, even if it was unexpected." Terezi greeted in a grating volume, causing Rose and Kanaya a stream of confusion.

Terezi gestured them inside, the interspecies couple obliging right away. Vriska was lying on the wooded floor, her hand perched under her jaw while the other poked at the chubby, teal colored body. 

The grub chirped repeatedly, nibbling at Vriska's finger as hard as she could. Feeling a pinch eventually, Vriska pulled her finger away, making the wiggler squeak triumphantly. 

Kanaya gaped at the perfectly healthy looking and active grub, her worried assumptions washing away and replacing itself with relief. 

"It's okay?" Kanaya inquired, as she shifted to the rough couch. Rose followed suit, sitting next to her and glimpsing at the grub. 

" _She's_ been feisty all morning since she hatched," Vriska said, picking up the squirming grub. "I would say so." Aranha puffed up her cheeks at her mother, continuing her loud chirps.

"She just came out by herself, too! Didn't even waste anytime." Terezi added in. 

"Staying in that egg for longer than expected must've gotten her fired up." Rose commented, brushing a strand of her hair out from her face. 

Vriska signaled at Kanaya, pointing at Lilith as the six month old hybrid chewed on the ears of her doll. 

"Bring her here, I wanna see something." Vriska said, positioning Aranha on her lap. 

Kanaya balked, growing suspicious but complied and lifted herself up from the couch and in front of Vriska and her grub. 

"Have you two picked a name for her yet?" Rose asked, receiving a nod from Terezi. 

"We decided on Aranha." Terezi answered, sitting on the armrest of the couch. 

"Aranha? As in the scientific name for 'spiders'?" Rose raised an eyebrow. 

"We can name her whatever the fuck we want." Vriska smirked, leading Kanaya to cover Lilith's ears. The action probed a stifled giggle from Vriska, along with a chiming 'my bad' from the ceruleanblood. 

"I was expecting a more troll traditional name." Rose admitted, her eyes trained on the teal grub.

Lilith stared blankly at Aranha, watching the wiggler squeak at her and crawled off Vriska's lap. 

"Did she have any problems after hatching?" Rose questioned, earning a shake of Terezi's head but then stopped.

"Her limbs were a little sensitive, and touching her horns would make her shriek out of pain - but that disappeared after two hours passed." Terezi told her, pondering for a moment. 

"And...that was it, she hasn't shown any distressing signs since." The tealblood concluded. Rose hummed in thought, given how active the grub was being, she confidently could tell that Aranha was fine by all means. 

"Uh." Kanaya looked on with a confused expression, Aranha padded her way towards Lilith with soft clicks on the ground. 

Aranha only stopped a few inches away, gazing up at Lilith and chirping at her once, most likely expecting a response back,  Kanaya thought. 

This was, of course, the first time Lilith had ever seen a grub - or just any interaction with someone that wasn't an adult. The chirps made Lilith scrunch her face confusingly, reaching her tiny hand over to Aranha and grabbed a horn. Aranha gurgled, shaking her head rapidly to throw off Lilith's hand. 

The hybrid curiously tilted her head to the side, letting her grip go but swiftly  _tapping_ Aranha's head, hoping the sudden shaking would halt. 

It did. But teal shaded tears collected at the corners of her eyes from the consequence of the rough touch. Or, well, as rough as a newborn grub would find it. 

Vriska acted fast, grabbing Aranha and placing her back on her lap, wiping a tear stain away before a second tear rolled down. 

"Lilith, that was rude!" Kanaya gently scolded, the clueless hybrid baby cooing at her and pressing her bandaged finger on the green nose of her toy. 

"She certainly isn't sorry." Rose jokingly said, the jadeblood sighing. 

"I'm sure she's okay, don't worry about it," Terezi reassured, but narrowed her blind eyes behind her red tinted glasses. "Your crotchspawn isn't gonna get off so easily, though!"

"Put her in her gay baby jail." Vriska said in a high mocked tone, still attempting to shush Aranha. 

"I think I still have it-" 

"No." Kanaya plainly stated, looking baffled. Terezi stood up from the couch, striding over to a room. 

"She must serve for her gay baby crimes." Terezi's voice echoed in the hall way. 

"No!" 

Not wasting a second, Terezi dragged a cardboard box with a rectangular cut on its front, supposedly mimicking a window, with jumbled writing below it that read exactly what Vriska and Terezi called it. 

"C'mooon, Kanaya," Vriska rolled her eyes, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. "We've put her in there once already when you guys let us babysit." 

Shock mixed with induced frustration bore Kanaya's face, holding Lilith to her chest protectively while muffled laughter spewed from Rose's mouth. 


	7. Babysitter Swag

Rose quietly watched as Lilith rolled around on the floor in front of her,  bubbly giggles pouring from the hybrid as she shifted back and forth. The small wings attached to her moth onesie flapped helplessly in the air. 

Kanaya came walking down the stairs cladded in a beaming white dress that complimented her gray skin, a silky black fabric tied around her waist to easily contrast her dress. She fiddled with her gold earrings, trying to latch the last one onto her ear. 

"Dave said he'll arrive here any minute from now," Kanaya reported, stopping in her tracks to look herself in an oval sized mirror that hung above a stand. "Karkat has just finished washing something at the house." 

Rose hummed, prying her eyes away from their rolling daughter and at Kanaya. She was, as usual, breathtaking to Rose and red still fluttered Rose's cheeks, even after four years that they'd been romantically engrossed in each other. 

Loud knocks interrupted Lilith's giggles, the seven month old baby quickly stopped rolling and looked at the door with a blank expression. 

Kanaya walked over towards the door and opened it for the anticipated babysitters. Karkat marched into the house, examining the house with turns of his head, staring at the floor that was littered Rose's knitting, baby toys, and bowls of wiggler food that was meant for the grubs Kanaya took home for special care. 

"This place is a pigsty," Karkat scoffed, crossing his arms. "Do you dumbasses ever clean your house? I don't even wanna imagine how the upstairs look." 

Kanaya shrugged when the shorter troll glanced at her, she patted his shoulder with a warm smile. 

"I would prefer if you didn't use any swear words around Lilith." Kanaya heavily advised, Karkat clamped his mouth with his hand. 

"Shi- uh,  _crap_ sorry, Kanaya." Karkat muffled out behind his hand, a snicker from Dave made him furrow his eyebrows. 

"You're basically taking away his whole speaking rights." Dave chaffed, trudging over to his sister and sitting next to her on the couch. 

Karkat glared daggers at Dave, "Shut up, Strider, you're not an innocent wiggler either." He pointed an accusing finger at him. "You have the mouth of a fucking-" 

"Karkat!" Kanaya exclaimed, the mutant troll cringed responsively and slapped his hand back on his mouth. Rose raised her eyebrows in amusement, looking at Dave and noticing his tiny smile. 

Lilith emitted a loud babble to catch Dave's attention, successfully getting Dave to pick up his niece. 

"How are you doin', Lily?" Dave sniffed, reflections of Lilith staining his shades. Lilith smiled at the dark reflection, swinging her arms while in his grip. Rose poked him on the arm with a deadpanned 'hey' to get his focus. 

"Don't give her any sugar, it's late and I already know your underlying scheme." Rose strictly told him, making Dave develop a baffled look. 

"You really think I'm gonna be giving out cookies and tootsie rolls to a seven month old baby at," Dave turned on his phone and averted his eyes to the time. "7pm. Honestly, can she even eat those yet?" 

"Her diet includes  _raw_ meat, Dave, she's not completely human you know so I would safely say yes, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to." Rose corrected, running her fingers through Lilith's soft hair. 

"Right, right," Dave said defensively, focusing his attention back on Lilith. "Guess I forget sometimes, because I mean, she lacks some important troll features I'm used to seeing, like yellow sclera and horns jabbing outta her head." He listed off.  

"She's not a troll either," Rose shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned, she's just... part of me and part of Kanaya." 

Dave nodded thoughtfully, shifting his niece into a more comfortable position with her head resting on the crook of his arm. 

"Though adding onto your statement about troll features being present more in appearance, there could possibly be a high chance of a next human\troll hybrid being dominantly grub-like, or at the most part when it's merely just a baby." Rose continued, retracting her hand. Dave raised a bleach colored eyebrow from behind his shades. 

"Is that, like, your way of subtly telling Kanaya in the room that you want another kid." Dave accused, gently pressing his index finger into Lilith's light gray palm. 

Rose rolled her eyes, getting up from the couch and strolling over to Kanaya. She latched around her much taller wife's arm, gently pulling her over to the door. 

"I'm counting on you two to feed Lilith in six minutes, her diapers and wipes are located in the bathroom, and try to set her to bed before 9'o clock." Kanaya told them, giving a quick wave goodbye, but then stopped in her trail. 

"Oh, and make sure boys," Kanaya spoke up, suddenly thrusting a menacing finger at Karkat then shifted to Dave. "She _better_ not be harmed in anyway when we get back." 

Karkat nodded sharply, intimidation striking his core. Kanaya followed Rose out the door, and with that, the mothers were gone. 

Dave held up Lilith in the air, her legs kicking in the air innocently. 

"Your lesbian mommas are gonna kill us even if a tiny scratch happens to you, huh?" Dave asked her, not expecting a response besides from a simple, aimless coo. "Uncle Davey ain't gonna let nothing hurt you, that's for sure. Don't need to worry about a thing." 

"If anything does happen to her, it's definitely on you." Karkat said, plopping down on the couch. 

"She can't be that hard to take care of." Dave shrugged, leaning back on the couch with his arm spread out and Lilith back on his lap. Karkat looked on at him with a mustered expression that detailed his every bit of doubt.

"That little helpless baby originated from Kanaya's loins, and I've known Kanaya for longer than you have, so I can proudly say she's most likely just as infuriating to  _fudging_ rear and ten times more of a bite in the ass with Lalonde's snarky horsecrap definitely being passed down." Karkat huffed, grabbing Lilith from Dave and cradling her. 

Dave looked over his boyfriend's shoulder, sticking out his tongue when Lilith made eye contact with him, which Lilith copied and poked out her tongue as well. 

"I won't be surprised if Lilith does become a total snark machine like her moms." Dave chortled lightly. Karkat brushed back her hair as she sucked at her fingers. 

"Fuc- fugg it, let's just feed her now." Karkat rose from the couch, Lilith snugged in his arm as he shuffled over to the kitchen. Lilith patted at Karkat's cheek, letting out 'a' sounding noises. 

Karkat raised a bushy eyebrow, "what?" 

Lilith pointed at the ground, Karkat peering behind himself to see that she was directing his gaze at the tentacle limb'd cat doll. The mutant troll backtracked, picking up the toy and handing it to Lilith, who gladly squeezed right away. 

Going to the kitchen, Karkat scavenged the cabinets for any container that resembled some type of food that seemed edible for Lilith. After deeming that the cabinets were useless, he changed to looking through the fridge. Rose said she liked eating meat, right? 

He pulled out a tupperware, chunks of meat still being refrigerated inside. Lilith scrunched up at the sight of the tupperware, shaking her head. 

"Picky." Karkat tisked, placing it back inside the fridge. Dave joined him in the kitchen, scoping around before opening a lower cabinet. 

Karkat examined the fridge twice, closing it up when he concluded there was nothing Lilith could - or wanted - to eat. 

"I don't know what to feed her." Karkat uttered, Lilith becoming more fussy as seconds flew by. Dave retracted his arm from the cabinet at Karkat's statement, baby formula acquired in his hand and waved it a little. 

"Found somethin'." Dave closed the cabinet before making his way to Karkat, reading the labels on the baby formula's container. "Find a bottle." 

Karkat went ahead and passed the hybrid to him, going back to scanning Rose and Kanaya's kitchen left and right in hopes of finding a baby bottle. 

Opening the can of formula, a swarm of cats came trotting into the kitchen, making Dave hiss through his teeth. 

"Fuck, dude, we've got company." Dave started, not acknowledging the profanity that slipped his mouth. Karkat, however, snapped his fingers at the blond, earning his attention with a shift of his head. 

"No swear words, dumb butt, if I'm obliged to follow the rules, you are too." The mutant troll scolded, taking out a small, transparent bottle. 

Dave turned back at the cats, nudging one backwards with his foot. 

"Cat, this ain't for you, you already have food in your bowl," Dave said, pushing the spotted feline lightly. "Or, uh, Twilight. Is that your name? Hey Karkat, what kind of weird ass names would you think Rose and Kanaya would give to their cats." 

Karkat placed the water filled bottle on the counter, using a spoon to scoop up formula powder. "I don't know, Dave, neither do I care." 

Dave bent down to the cat's level, spotting a collar and name tag attached underneath the explosion of fur. He grabbed ahold of the silver tag as Lilith grinned at the cat and tried reaching to pet it with her small limbs. He peered over his shades to see a cursive 'C' while the cat started an attempt to pull away from his grip. 

Looking at it clearly, the tag read 'Cythlla'. Ah, of course. 

"Hey, are you done?" Karkat spoke up, shaking the bottle. "Her meal's ready." 

He hefted himself up in a slow manner, expecting to be handed the bottle with his hand out, instead Lilith got snatched into Karkat's hold. Positioning the rubber nipple in front of Lilith, the hybrid kept hold of the bottle with her tiny hands, trying to guzzle it down but Karkat irritatingly had the upper hand and he was effortlessly controlling the amount. 

"Christ, slow down, Lilith," Karkat grunted, tipping the bottle back.

"Just let her drink it, Karkat." Dave shrugged, sauntering over to the living room with his hands dug into his pockets. 

Karkat followed, shaking his head as he repeated the tipping action. "Kanaya told me last time she let Lilith eat like this she spat up on her constantly." 

Lilith huffed, loosening her grip on the bottle and complying with Karkat's pace, in turn giving the troll a feeling of achievement. 

With the visible display of Karkat bottle feeding Lilith very urgently and achingly paternal-like, a suppressed wave of adoration swathed over Dave, a low chuckle discharged from his throat. 

"Uncle Karkat to the rescue," Dave claimed, pressing his hand into his cheek as he leaned against it. "Don't get too attached, dude, everyone and their goddamn deaf grandma know  _I'm_ her favourite uncle." 

Rolling his deep red colored eyes, Karkat removed the bottle away from Lilith's mouth. "Setting aside that I'm not even biologically related to either of her mothers to be considered what you humans call 'uncle', I don't see you bottle feeding and making sure Lilith doesn't foolishly lead herself to getting stomach pains." 

"That's because I'm the cool uncle," Dave fixed his shades for emphasis. "Kids always love the cool uncle." 

"I hope you're not counting on Lilith falling for your façade like everyone else did when we were incredibly pathetic and stuck up teens." Karkat shot down, miraculously avoiding any swears in his dictionary. 

Before Dave could form a remark, his phone buzzed in his pocket and instead fished it out. Turning it on, purple text flashed on his screen. 

tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering  turntechGodhead [TG] 

TT: Dearest brother, I would loathe to message you about Lilith so prematurely into mine and Kanaya's date, lest that be the subject I fixate on for the rest of the night. But Kanaya is visibly getting antsy about being departed from our daughter and she won't stop fumbling with her fingers as we await for our dinner reservations.

TT: I thought it'd see fit that I contact you first before Kanaya went off the walls, spamming both of you essays asking of Lilith's status. 

TT: Not that I can blame her. It's taking more of just a portion of my self control to not bombard you with anxious questions that have been culminating in my mind as I go on. 

TG: nah everythings good karkats feeding her right now 

TG: made her baby formula and she tried drinking that shit in one go like as if time didnt even fucking exist just drink that bomb af formula up worry about the stomach problems later 

TT: You stopped her, right? She has a habit of doing that with the formula in particular, for some reason.

TG: yeah karkat stopped her before she already got half of it down like hold on little missy im pretty sure youre not supposed to do that

TG: kinda just assumed she mustve been really hungry instead of it being a common thing for her 

TT: Yes, I was confused at first too. When it first occured as Kanaya and I decided to try and serve her baby formula, we didn't pay a single thought when she finished the bottle in an estimation of 20 seconds. She spat up on Kanaya's favourite flower designed shirt afterwards, which lead me to being the sacrifice for Lilith's inevitable spit up episodes when we only had formula for her to eat. 

TT: It did not assist the situation at hand when she turned four months, spitting up happened regardless of what she ate. 

TG: jesus parenting sounds hard 

TG: doubt it made it any better with her being half troll half human huh 

TG: i mean like imagine if you tried breastfeeding her from the start and then having to wean her off once her sharp ass fangs came rolling in

TT: I'd rather not. 

TG: anyways lilith is alright and you n kanaya dont need to worry about a thing 

TG: shes in the watchful eye of her two knight uncles what could go wrong

Abruptly, a booming cry burst in the living room, startling both Dave and the six cats lounging about. He teared his shaded eyes away from his phone, finding Karkat holding up a disgruntled Lilith in the air. 

TG: fuck gotta go 

TT: ?

TT: Dave, if something happened to Lilith I will make no promises that I won't murder you once I arrive back home.

TG: nahh everythings aight karkat just got in a fight with one of your cats so brb 

Dave quickly shoved his phone into his pocket, proceeding to jump off the couch and aid Karkat with the fussy hybrid. 

"Karkat, what happened?" Dave tensed up, hesitating on how to solve the issue. Distressed emotions painted Karkat's face, watching as Lilith thrashed about for an unknowing reason. He felt incognizant to a certain level what with him only holding up Lilith and from a distance, could've been interpreted as Karkat using it for a mechanism to pacify her. Karkat could already feel the disappointing looks of her parents burning into the back of his head. 

"She just started crying out of nowhere when I took the bottle away from her!" Karkat fretted, pointing to the direction of the bottle on the coffee table with a nudge of his head. 

Dave promptly grabbed the bottle, swishing the last remains of the formula lightly. There was barely any left, but it was worth a shot to see if she would respond nicely to getting back her bottle. 

The bright red eyed human shoved the bottle into Karkat's side, alerting him and staring blankly at it before shaking his head. 

"That's not gonna do shit, Dave," Karkat puffed up, though Dave refused to agree and kept trying to probe Karkat into taking it. 

"Just try." was all Dave said, shaking the bottle. Karkat looked uncertain, reluctantly acquiring the baby bottle from his boyfriend, then placed Lilith comfortably on his arm. He scooted the rubber part close to Lilith's lip , waiting for her to latch and stay quiet. 

Instead, Lilith shoved the bottle away, her whining and rapid shifting increasing. Karkat breathed out a 'fuck' as he gave back the neglected bottle to Dave, who now looked dejected. 

Lilith grasped onto Karkat's turtleneck, tugging at it and trying to move up. Karkat wasted no time, obliging with what he presumed she wanted, placing her head over his shoulder. 

"Wait," Dave paused, his eyes widening as he pieced together in his head. "Try burping her, that's probably why she's throwing a fit." 

Karkat looked at him sketchy, completely clueless on what Dave was referring to. In response, Dave did a quick, soft pat on her back, urging Karkat to mimic the action with a slight push of his hands forwardly into the space between them. 

Patting his hands rhythmically on Lilith's back, her cries began fading out, only one or two upset noises leaking out from her. Dave grinned victoriously at Karkat, throwing a thumbs up. Karkat displayed a greatly surprised expression, hearing on bewilderedly to Lilith's dying sobs being replaced with complete silence, save for a soft choked up noise. 

That was what she needed? Just repetitive pats on the back? An underwhelming sounding laugh streamed out of Karkat, landing three more pats on the back of her onesie. Once the last pat came into contact, a sudden throaty noise echoed in Dave and Karkat's ears, the mutant freezed up. 

"EW!" 

Karkat held Lilith at an arm's length, twisting his head back as best as he could to glimpse behind his shoulder. A large transparent stain that seemed to take a splattering shape was seen soaking into the black cotton of his turtleneck. 

Dave went ahead and took Lilith, now sporting a pleasant smile on her small face. At least she was content out of the three of them. 

Karkat gagged, acting on his only instinct to frustratingly tug off his shirt in a quick attempt. Wrangling his turtleneck off after a pathetic minute, he threw down the article of clothing on the floor. 

This gained a contagious laugh from Dave, giggles that seemed to burst out one after another as he pressed his hand against his face. Karkat frowned. 

"Put your shirt back on, nobody wants to see that." Dave managed to choke out, resting Lilith's head underneath his chin. 

"I'm not putting it back on with that fugging disgusting stain deeply marked into it!" Karkat shivered, picking up his turtleneck anyway as soon as three cats started crowding around it. "I'm gonna go wash this shit first." 

"Better hurry before Rose and Kanaya come back, or else they'll assume we're diddling on the job." Dave jested, bending down to grab Lilith's cat doll from the floor and handing it to her, then plopping back onto the couch. 

"Shut up, Strider." Karkat barked, folding his dirty clothing before making his way through the piles of whatever items Rose and Kanaya would be too lazy to clean up and put away, then into the laundry room, which surprisingly revealed to be clean. 

Lilith gurgled at her doll, hugging it to herself as it almost towered over her. The corner of Dave's mouth lifted into a smile, combing through her hair lightly. 

"Now you're fine, huh? Just needed to spit up on your uncle Karkat," Dave smirked, observing as she mindlessly chewed on her doll's ear. "Let's hope your mom isn't having a panic attack right now and comes back home, both of your moms actually, because you wanna hang out with uncie Dave more." He ruffled Lilith's hair, a raspberry being blown by Lilith in response. 

A knock on the door made Dave jump a little, raising both brows curiously. He didn't have a single guess on who was at the door, especially around at what was close to eight o' clock in the night. 

Perhaps Rose and Kanaya decided to come home early, Kanaya's worries ticking off and most likely sending the two home instantly before a waiter could offer them a drink. 

Dave got up, placing Lilith down on the floor and apprehensively opening the door to expect Rose and Kanaya looking on at him with urgent wrath. 

At the doorstep, he was greeted with a blue eyed figure and a goofy smile Dave would recognize without a second thought. 

"Oh, hi Dave! I knew you were here," John waved. "I went to your house earlier to hang out with you and Karkat, but then Jade reminded me that you guys were on babysitting duty tonight!" 

Dave stepped aside for John to enter, closing the door with a ' _click_ '. 

"Yeah, we've mostly just been trying to feed Lily," Dave said, watching as John looked around the living room, guessing he was wondering where Karkat was. "Karkat got spit up all over his shirt, by the way, he's in the laundry room right now because he refused to put it back on and would rather stay as a naked beef cake unless it was washed." 

John chuckled, seating himself on the couch and overhanging towards Lilith. "Hey Lilith! Do you remember me?" 

Lilith could only coo at him, John taking it as an answer anyway. 

"Is that toy new?" John referred to the cat doll clutched in her arms. Receiving a nod, he aw'd. "You know, it actually  looks like something your mom would be into - er, well, your human mom." 

"I know right?" Dave agreed, a grin accompanied his face. "Like mother, like daughter." 

John grabbed the remote from the coffee table, turning on the TV as Dave sat beside him and lifted Lilith into his lap. 

"What you gonna watch?" Dave piped up. 

John clicked the guide button, scrolling down a few channels before stopping at an ongoing movie. Dave frowned at the movie title, ' _Sharknado_ '. 

"We're not gonna watch that shit." Dave plainly said, trying to snatch the remote away from John as he kept a stiff hold on Lilith. 

"Yes, we are! It's a good movie, Dave." John stuck his tongue out, selecting the channel. Dave shook his head, pointing a finger at Lilith. 

"It's shitty and also not appropriate for babies, you trying to give her nightmares of bad CGI sharks flying around and terrorizing a whole fucking city," Dave blurted out, then backtracking. "Uh, wait." 

"You said  _two_ swear words!" John claimed, faking a shocked tone of voice. "I'm telling Rose and Kanaya." 

"Shit isn't a swear word." Dave replied, dumbfounded. John wagged his finger at him. 

"It is, actually," John snickered, pressing guide again. "Here, since you're being a baby about it, we'll watch the second best shark movie." 

Dave fixed his eyes on the screen, seeing the channel change to yet another horrific shark movie. 

"Sharktopus is just as bad, John." Dave criticized. John furrowed his eyebrows. 

"Alright, then let's watch Two-Headed Shark-" 

"That's even worse." Dave interrupted. 

"Hey! It's great and really funny, if you give it a chance." John said, causing Dave to let out a long no. 

"That movie has an old timer canoodling with a high school student the whole entire time," Dave told him as he patted Lilith's head, her chubby hand coming up and pushing it away with light strength. "That's gonna give her nightmares for sure." 

"Okay, as gross as that was, it's only towards the end, and secondly," John hovered his thumb over the select button, the blue lighting up the movie's title. "Shouldn't Lilith already be asleep?"

Realization hit Dave in the head like a rock, making him straight away get off the couch with Lilith secured in his arms. 

"Oh, _fudge_ you're right." Dave breathed, telling John he'll be right back as he hastily made his way to upstairs. Pushing open the door to Rose and Kanaya's bedroom, Dave carefully placed Lilith in her bassinet. He tucked the soft, fluffy bright orange blanket that had a ridiculously massive Garfield head sewn on (obviously something Rose got for her daughter herself) around her, making sure her doll was nestled with her. 

"Alright, Lily, time to go to bed," Dave murmured to his niece, ruffling her hair again. "Nighty night, little moth girl." 

Lilith fussed, throwing her hand at him, then clinging onto his shirt. Dave sighed, gently prying her fingers away. 

"Uncle Dave is gonna watch some movies with John, alright? Meanwhile, you're gonna try and sleep, either me or Uncle Karkat will come check up on you later," Dave tried soothing her, but to no avail. Lilith flailed her arms and legs, her nose scrunching up. 

"Y'know if you're not asleep by the time your moms get here, they're gonna feed me to those tentacle monster gods your mommy Rose is so obsessed with." Dave told her, dully. Lilith slapped her hand against Dave's arm, squirming in the bassinet and mussing up her blanket. 

Letting nine minutes pass, Lilith made it clear that she didn't want to sleep just yet, silently coercing Dave to taking her out wrapped completely in her Garfield blanket. 

"Aight, you can come hang out with us for a little longer, but don't blame your uncle Dave if you get scarred by John's shitty taste in movies." 

Going back downstairs, he caught John still on the couch, though accompanied with a now properly dressed Karkat sitting in the middle, a cream colored cat spreading out on John and Karkat's laps. The shorter of the two looked up at him, turning confused at Lilith wide awake in his arms.

"Dave, why isn't Lilith sleeping?" Karkat gruffly inquired. Dave shrugged, stepping on the last stair.  

"She didn't wanna sleep yet, made a fuss about it." Dave fell down on the couch beside Karkat, the cat in their laps perked up his head at the sudden noise. Karkat scoffed, petting the cream feline's head. 

"Of course she did," Karkat exasperatedly sighed. "No wonder Kanaya always looks like as if she hasn't even slept for three months." 

"Hah, look! She looks like a burrito." John pointed out. Only Lilith's head poked out of her blanket, her whole body and limbs consumed in the thin fabric. Admittedly, Karkat  _did_ find that genuinely adorable. 

John already went on ahead and put on his atrocious shark movie, a grossly animated double headed shark swimming its way to conveniently two girls displayed on the screen. Lilith didn't even seem bothered by the mauling. 

Warmth emitted off from Karkat's shirt, due to it being fresh out of the dryer, leading Dave to lean into Karkat like a cat crawling to a particular spot where the sunlight bounced off the most. John seemed to be doing the same, pressing into the comfortable heat that could practically lull you to sleep. 

Karkat looked quizzical at them, taking a minute or two to say anything.

"What are you two whimsical fucks doing?" 

Lilith shifted in her blanket, her mouth ajar before fully opening that her developing fangs were showcased. 

"Fuct!" A shout escaped the hybrid, bringing all three of the adults to stare at her. Scrunching up her nose, she repeated it again, though this time more understandable. "Fuck!" 

Karkat's eyes flew all the way back, his heart freezing for a split second. 

Her first word. Was a profanity. Something Rose and Kanaya devoted themselves to avoid. Karkat shot up, snatching Lilith into his hands as she blankly stared at him with innocence. 

"Shit, Lilith - shit," Karkat sputtered, his eyes filled with frantic emotions. 

"Chit!" 

"Jegus, no, stop!" 

John and Dave bursted out laughing, the mutant troll glaring daggers at the two.

"Karkat, oh my god." John snorted, slapping his hand over his face as their laughter both became uncontrollable to the point of tears pricking their eyes. 

"Can you shitbags tell me how to fucking turn her off instead of sitting on your asses?" Karkat yelped, Lilith smiling widely at him.  

"Fuck!" Lilith repeated, producing another hysterical reaction. Rose and Kanaya were certainly not going to be happy about this. 

***

The bright sun filtered through the blinds, hitting against the thick curtains. 

Rose stirred awake, fluttering open her purple eyes. She shifted her head to the side, finding that Kanaya was already up and probably serving herself and Lilith breakfast. 

Rose stayed in the bed for a minute more, her glazed eyes pointed at the ceiling before she summoned the energy to pick herself up from the bed and groggily make her way to the kitchen downstairs. 

Kanaya placed meat piece after meat piece on Lilith's plate while coffee brewed. 

Rose pursed her lips and planted a kiss on Kanaya's cheek as a morning greeting, then made her way to the dishwasher for a mug. 

The pair had arrived to their house very late last night, the cooks were having trouble and more guests started to swarm the restraunt. They were on the verge of collapsing into slumber, quickly dismissing Dave and Karkat from their babysitting job, as well as John which neither questioned why he was there in the first place. Karkat had seemed a bit anxious, fumbling for a moment but then just bidding them goodbye and followed John and Dave out the door. 

Lilith was, thankfully, already tired out, so no hassle arose which meant Rose and Kanaya were allowed to fall asleep instantly. 

Rose waited for the coffee to be finished, hitting her nails against the counter rhythmically. 

Kanaya fed her daughter the last piece of meat, smiling satisfyingly as she got up from her chair. Lilith sniffed, casually swinging her little legs. 

"Fuck!" 

The tupperware dropped to the ground, the coffee beans popping to fill in the abrupt silence. Karkat's phone wouldn't stop buzzing the entire morning, notifications piling up to the brim. 


	8. Mama Endeavors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to address that I have a tumblr whoops.  
> My account is @lemontiii if you have any questions regarding Lilith or something else about the fic, you can ask me there!! I could also take chapter prompt requests. I'll be posting updates + sneak peeks of drafts I already have made for the story and other wips as well!

"Kanaya, are you sure you can take care of her by yourself??" The short woman asked once more, her smoky purple orbs filled with worry for her wife as she stood by the door.

Rose had an afternoon meet up with Roxy and Callie for lunch; it was an inevitable planning formed by Roxy once she expressed concern at how drowsy and covered in spit up Rose always appeared since Lilith's second week being born - a bit moreso than Kanaya - and it gradually worsened for both as the months skipped by. All requests to cancel it from Rose were shot down almost immediately. 

Kanaya dismissed her fretted behavior with a flick of her wrist, appearing calm despite just a bit of visible dark circles underlining her eyes. 

"I have never been more sure, after all she is  _my_ daughter, Rose, I should already be with the knowledge of how to handle her." Kanaya stated, a winning smile on her face. 

"Yes but, we rarely leave her with just one of us - and when we did, she received a bandaid because of my mindless assumption that she wouldn't go near my needles." Rose reminded her, but Kanaya dismissed her worries again. 

"Rose, we've learned from that, I assure you it won't happen again," Kanaya stated with confidence, securing Lilith in her arms for emphasis as the hybrid chewed on her cat doll's arm more roughly. "And I mean no offense, dear, but I am a bit more... precautious than you are." 

Rose wore a smirk that was laced with a pure baffling feeling, dusting nonexistent particles on the fabric of her shirt before closing her hand around the door knob. 

"I will admit, you are less reckless than I am, at least when it comes to Lilith but," Rose started, shifting close to Kanaya and using her pointer finger to boop Kanaya right on the nose. "You DID almost get her mangled when you left your lipstick - particularly, your specibus kind - lying irresponsibly on the floor, Lilith spotted it before either of us could and if my memory is correct,  _I_ was the one that stopped our daughter from summoning a chainsaw that would've terribly disfigured her." 

Kanaya's mouth was sealed tight, eyes silently swinging to the corner with burning embarrassment. 

"Fuck!" 

God damn it. 

Kanaya lightly shushed Lilith, swiping her fingers through her hair. Though, there was lots of odd things about her, it was a little too early for Lilith to even be uttering a single word that wasn't babbles and squeaks to receive attention from her parents. 

As if to their unfortunate luck, the only  understandable miracle word that rolled off her tongue was a swear, something Karkat didn't get off so easily for causing. After copious amounts of researching, it would most likely be another more months until Lilith formed other words. Fantastic, Kanaya thought gulling as she chewed the inside of her cheek.  

"How gratuitous." Rose murmured, kissing Lilith's forehead, then Kanaya's cheek. 

"I'll see you later this evening, Kanaya." Rose waved, twisting the knob and stepping, closing the door behind not long after as two cats quickly slipped through before it was shut. 

Kanaya looked down at her daughter, her innocent jade green eyes meeting her mother's. Rose would always bring up a point that their eyes were nearly identical, save for Lilith having gleaming white sclera instead of Kanaya's pleasant yellow. There were lots of things about Lilith that reflected Kanaya, almost enough to consider her troll passing if it wasn't for her sclera, her horn beds completely absent, and her human form having been dominate since birth. 

But there was an equal amount of troll features to counter, the most obvious being her developing fangs and generally her sharp teeth. Not as sharp as her little fangs, but also not as nubby as human teeth were. And, of course, her skin being gray - though, with a much lighter shade. Kanaya's personal favourite, however, happened to be her pointy ears she inherited from her troll mother.

She was most definitely a perfect recombination of Rose and Kanaya, her balanced features between troll and human being an endless amazement to her parents. 

Lilith squirmed in Kanaya's arms, muttering out what Kanaya guessed was the only word she knew. 

"I'm not letting Karkat babysit you again unless he gets his mouth under control." Kanaya said firmly, whisking away over to upstairs. 

Entering her and Rose's bedroom, Kanaya sifted through Lilith's clothes, picking out an outfit that Kanaya assumed was gifted by Roxy; if the repetitive design of cat heads was anything to go by. Or Jasprose could be a valid guess. Pulling out the peach leggings that went with the sleeved shirt, two cat faces, gray and golden respectively, were imprinted on the knees. 

Possibly the latter.

"We're going to do a quick errand, Lilith," Kanaya started, placing her on the bed. "Just the grocery store, it seems we have ran out of cat food, as well as food for ourselves." 

She quietly listed off the items they needed, hoisting up Lilith once she was done changing her and making her way back downstairs. Kanaya made a mental note to retrieve more meat products, scanning the fridge for something to feed Lilith before they left. 

Sighing exasperatedly, Kanaya took out the formula container, then fetching for her bottle from the cupboards. 

Hopefully spit up wouldn't get on either of their clothes this time. 

***

Audible squeaks ringed throughout the store, stirring the noisy cart across an isle. Kanaya rested her forearms on the cart's handle, sluggishly pushing as she examined the shelves for appropriate cat food. 

Lilith grasped onto her mother's sleeve, grazing her knuckles in her mouth, strapped in safely in the toddler seat available on the cart. Kanaya stopped the cart, extending her arm and pulling down an orange bag, plopping it down on the underside of the cart. 

Moving along, she entered the meat aisle, a cold temperature rising in the section. Lilith's grip tightened, emitting shaky mewls and tugging at her sleeve. 

Kanaya hushed her, pressing her finger pad lightly to Lilith's lips, pleading her not to yelp a profanity while they were surrounded by passerbys. Quickly, wanting to speed out of the freezing area, Kanaya tossed an unspecified package of meat, pushing her cart with urgency. 

The hybrid shifted impatiently in the seat, looking towards the rows of junk food that she didn't quite understand what they were, but it didn't stop her from pointing at random bags as they slid by. 

 "Lily, you don't know what those are," Kanaya said, shaking her head at her. She strolled to the last remaining items of the aisle, stopping the cart and grabbing a tall can from the shelf. "Here, you can eat this."

Kanaya held up a navy blue container to her, 'Puffs' scribbled on the front. She plopped the item down in their cart, ignoring Lilith's tugs of demand. 

Before the jadeblood could skid away, a delicate voice erupted beside her, making her halt in her tracks and move her head to the side. 

A short woman crooned, her grip on her cart's bar loose, as she looked on intently at Lilith. Meeting Kanaya's gaze, the woman sputtered, briskly taking a step back with apologies soon following. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, for just staring at your daughter like that," the woman brushed an amber string of hair, feeling embarrassed. "I've just never seen a troll look so distinctive before, don't they usually have horns?" 

Kanaya offered a reassuring smile, glancing down at Lilith. "Ah, it's more than alright," she waved it off, managing to relax the woman's posture. "And to answer your question, um, she isn't really a troll." 

Her face looked perplexed, studying Lilith a bit closer. "She's only 50%, actually, the other half of her is, ah, human - which is why she doesn't exactly have horns or the proper gray of an average troll's skintone." Kanaya quickly added in, rubbing the back of her neck.

The woman's face went from quizzical to raw astonishment in a split second. "She's a human/troll hybrid? I've never seen one before, or-or heard of one!" She stuttered, then gestured towards Lilith's small hands that were still gripping Kanaya's sleeve, fueling her amazement further. "Her nails, or claws? are black, even!" 

Kanaya pried her off from her sleeve, softly taking her fingers into her own to view closely at her dark colored nails. 

"I didn't know humans and trolls could reproduce to begin with." The amber haired woman said amusingly. Kanaya hummed, letting go of her hand. 

"Neither did I, honestly." Kanaya replied, her voice emitting a dreamy state. Admittedly, it would swell up overwhelmingly in Kanaya of how... drastically changed her present life was, compared to what she was taught and ordered to accept on Alternia as she grew. Everything about her life now could be considered unfit to Alternia's heavily followed rules. 

Lilith's sudden booming whines dragged Kanaya out of her trance, barely noticing that the hybrid was beginning to fuss in her seat. Oh, well. Alternia was gone. For good, that was sure. 

"Ah, I think I'll have to go now," Kanaya cleared her throat, the woman's eyes snapping up at Kanaya and getting her attention. Not to waste a second, the woman bid her adieu, doing a quick wave to Lilith before she pulled out of the aisle. 

The jadeblood followed shortly, moving out of the aisle and heading towards a new section. The encounter with the woman earlier was drilled into Kanaya's mind, now that it was suddenly brought plainly in front. Neither she nor Rose really induced any thoughts on how the public would react to Lilith. Only preschools that Rose would bring up that she saw while passing by, wishes to enlist her to specific ones when Lilith was big enough were the only mentions of showcasing her to Earth C. 

As far as Kanaya could tell, as she swiveled her head around the store, there were a few stares directed towards Lilith. But they weren't  _terrible_ stares, they weren't coated in disgust or fuming hatred, as one would most likely expect with a mixed race being.  _None_ of them were. New earth was, without a doubt, generally accepting of harmless things, such as her daughter; which was probably an irony of itself, what with the insights Rose gave her on their trip on the meteor about how harsh and complicated her original planet was. 

The stares from other shoppers were only curious, non ill-intentioned ones. Like the women who seemed invested in Lilith's existence. It did, admittedly, bother Kanaya to a certain degree - but it wasn't that she could blame them! Lilith must've been quite a sight to strangers walking down the street, if you weren't already used to seeing her daily. And with the amount of knowledge Kanaya had about human/troll hybrid whereabouts, Lilith was the only existing one to be documented; which in turn, did prove to cause hardship when she did late night google researches about humans and trolls having babies while Rose was six weeks into her pregnancy. 

If her appearance was any concern, it only made her more special to Kanaya. 

Trying to hurry out of the store, due to Lilith only growing more annoyed with having to stay strapped in for a long time period, she grabbed as many required items as she could, then steered herself to a cashier with the shortest line. 

***

Unloading the last grocery bag, Kanaya made a return back to the car, unbuckling the seatbelt that was stretched over Lilith's carrier and taking her out completely. 

She left the carrier inside for now, cradling Lilith in her arms as she walked back inside the house. Before Kanaya started on putting away the groceries, she placed Lilith in her highchair and sought out the plastic bags in search for the snack she bought for her. 

Once the item was found, she grabbed a small sized bowl and dumped star shaped finger food inside. Kanaya gave her the bowl, going ahead and organizing the groceries. She tried drowning out any other thoughts she had in the market about Alternia, roughly putting a carton of orange juice into the fridge. 

If Rose managed to ignore and slip past what her original home taught her, Kanaya contemplated, there wasn't no impossibility for her to attempt to do the same. Or, perhaps, discussing it with Rose later would help in some way. 

In a minute or two, the food was put away, leaving the bags to be stored in a narrow cabinet. 

The jadeblood sighed contently, still handling one more full bag. She shifted her attention back to her daughter, only to find a pack of cats crowding around her highchair as she threw down her snack puffs on the floor.

"Lilith!" Kanaya gasped, putting down the bag and snatching away the bowl before she could drop down one more. Kanaya gently shooed the cats out of the kitchen, dumping the few remaining snack bits into the trash can. 

Kanaya positioned her hands on her hips, giving Lilith a harden look. 

"You're a little mischievous girl, you know that, Lily?" Kanaya chided, pulling her out with a grunt. Kanaya swore she heard a muttered 'fuck' underneath Lilith's unintelligible gibbering. 

Kanaya moved to the living room, settling Lilith on the floor. Prior to sitting down with her, Kanaya reached for her beloved doll from the couch, handing it to her before she would eventually demand for it. 

For ten minutes, Kanaya dully watched as Lilith teethed on her toy, a reminder popping in her head that made her stand up with a forgetful expression. 

"Oh, I completely forgot I had bought something exclusively for you, darling!" Kanaya rushed back into the kitchen, picking back up the plastic bag from the cold floor and obtaining a long, rectangular package as she let the bag flutter leisurely onto the ground. 

Kanaya got on her knees, showing Lilith the front of the label that had colors sprayed around. She carefully opened the gift, ten spots embedded inside with each carrying different colors. 

Lilith's interest seemed locked onto it, staring at the colors then back up at Kanaya. 

The jadeblood put a finger up, sealing up the paint tray, then getting up to grab blank paper and a towel. 

Once she came back with the towel in arm and two pieces of paper clasped in her hand, she got back to her spot and shifted the objects to their places. 

Laying the second paper on the towel below, Kanaya reopened the tray and sat it down above the papers. 

"You just your fingers, like so," Kanaya began, dabbing one finger into the wet green paint and dotted onto the paper, leaving a tiny, faint green smudge. "It's finger painting." She smiled, rubbing off the bit of paint on the towel, then extending her arm to move aside Lilith's doll, lest the very noticeable color dirty its white material. 

Lilith gaped, slowly dipping a finger into the same green, then retracting back and bringing her finger to her mouth. 

Kanaya quickly seized her hand, shaking her head. "It's not for digesting, you'll get sick." Kanaya told her, lowering her hand down to the paper, beckoning Lilith to touch it. Once she smeared a long line of green, a high and giddy laugh poured out from her, immediately drenching all her fingers in the colors and smothered the blank paper with an array of different shaded paint. 

Soon, that page was filled colorful splotches and long yellow lines, moving onto coating the last paper with water paint. The colors in the tray already seemed to be losing their original hue as they mixed with others. 

Finishing the paper with one last dot of purple, the jadeblood held Lilith's hands in hers, cleaning off the paint from her finger tips and the spots of colors that managed to get on the base of her arm. Kanaya picked Lilith up, taking both the papers elegantly and walking back over to the kitchen. 

"I'll put them here to dry off," Kanaya told her, placing her daughter's finger paint drawings on the counter where the sun hit the most, making sure to put a paper towel underneath so it wouldn't bleed into the counter. "Once they are done, I'll hang up them on the fridge, so your mother can see them when she gets back." In movies, and generally promotional stock photos that dealt with domesticated lives, parents were seen proudly displaying their child's drawing on the fridge, seemingly encouraging their child in that way. 

And, Kanaya supposed, what better way to show off her daughter's masterpiece to every guest that laid a foot in their home? 

***

The door gradually opened, Rose stepping inside with a drink cup clutched in her left hand. She closed the door, leaning against it and investigated the house. 

The sight of Kanaya sleeping on the couch caught her eye, noticing Lilith still awake in her arm as she kicked into the air. A soft smile crossed Rose's face, walking to her snoozing wife.  

Careful not to disturb her, Rose uplifted Lilith from her arms, wiping at her cheek with her thumb. 

"You should've already been in the throes of your nap, Lily." Rose cooed, turning on her heel and heading upstairs. Though before she rectified Lilith's napping hours, Rose brought a blanket down, throwing it over Kanaya. 

Then, she absconded back up the stairs to get the restless hybrid to sleep for at least five minutes. 


	9. Monthly Appointments

Phone calls buzzed through the blonde's skull, the nurse at the desk quickly picking it up and talking into the phone with a soft, whisper akin voice that fitted into the atmosphere of the clinic's lobby like a correct puzzle piece. 

Three seats away from her, a fatigue mother restrained her hyperactive son, squeaks of his velcro shoes echoing in the waiting lobby. Rose was already used to these sounds, developing a sort of comfort with the familiarity that came with the urgent care clinic. Might as well, since her daughter required her often checkups to watch closely to her growth, to make sure her mismatched genetics weren't causing any problems.

Rose rested her chin on the top of Lilith's fluffy black hair, making note to pull her hand away at a distance when she tried gnawing on it frustratingly. 

A minute later, a doctor stepped out, paperboard in hand and called Rose over. Hoisting Lilith into her arms, she followed the doctor through the halls and into a mahogany painted room. A nurse was already seated inside, perking up then getting off her chair. 

The doctor had commented something to the nurse, but Rose disregarded their (most likely) business conversation as she perched Lilith on the examination table. 

The nurse then gave a nod, shortly leaving the room with a firm shut of the door. Rose slid her fingers across Lilith's hairline, mending any loose strands. 

"Rose Lalonde-Maryam," the blonde's head turned at the sudden sound of the doctor's voice. She waved a dismissing hand at him. 

"Just Lalonde will do," Rose insisted, a light smile on her face. "It'll save time." 

"Rose Lalonde," he started up again, taking a seat on his chair and setting his hands on the keyboard in front of him. "You can call me Dr. Foster." His dark hand went to prop his tag, then back to his keyboard.

Clacks of the keyboard filled the room as he slowly opened his mouth, taking his eyes off the screen and peering at Lilith. 

"My, she's gotten big." He said observantly. 

"She's eight months old, now," Rose added, brushing a hand over Lilith's head. "Close to being nine months in three weeks." 

Dr. Foster let out a small chuckle, clicking a keypad. "Has she gotten close to saying a word?" 

"Lilith has already articulated a word, actually." Rose answered, receiving a quizzical look from the doctor. 

"She has? I've never heard of much cases about babies that young already saying a non gibberish word, those are rare occurrences," he mused, tapping on a few more pads before asking another question. "Was her first word a usual one? Like mama?" 

This prompted a fast head shake from Rose, a snicker threatening to pass her lips. 

"Ah, no, the word she learned first and has no problem spouting occasionally would be....a tad, inappropriate." She halfheartedly explained, rubbing her daughter's back. 

A dangerously curious expression grew on Dr. Foster's face, but went back to focusing on his screen. 

"Mrs. Lalonde, swears being a baby's first word isn't as uncommon as you think," He simply stated, moving onto another inquiry. "Is she more often being fed a human infant's diet or a grub's?" 

"A grub's diet, normally, my wife and I only give her formula when there isn't much squares of meat for her to eat." Rose replied, watching as he tapped away further. Then, with a blink of an eye, he rose from his chair, taking a quick look at his clipboard.

"Blood tests will have to be in session today, we can do more usual X-Ray examinations tomorrow if you're able to schedule an appointment tomorrow." The doctor announced, abruptly making Rose straighten up at the utterance of blood tests. 

"She'll have to get blood drawn?" Rose piped up in an apprehensive manner, the door suddenly swinging open with the nurse from earlier rolling in a portable table top. 

"It'll only take about a few seconds, blood work is important to detect if the patient has any infections or problems with their inner organs," he coughed, placing the board next to the sink. "Eight months is a young age for blood tests, but with your daughter being a half breed, it's for safety's sake, it could be easier for her catch something severe." 

The sight of the four, empty containers and a tiny yet sharp syringe almost sent Rose reeling. 

"Is it really necessary? As of right now?" Rose repeated her concerns, watching as the nurse grabbed the butterfly needle, and seemed to prepare the tests. Dr. Foster nodded, carefully grabbing the needle from the nurse.

"Her immune system isn't as strong as a regular human or troll's would be, and with our little knowledge about human\troll hybrids, it will give at least a portion of insight about their health, saving millions of doctors around with future hybrid patients." Dr. Foster clarified, picking up a test from the table. 

Rose shifted anxiously, glancing at Lilith, then back at the workers. It  _was_ an important examination, for Lilith's health anyway. It wasn't like as if her parents even knew themselves what exactly they were dealing with - the two just treated her like a grub, then a human infant at unannounced times. 

She could be developing an inner problem, despite looking happy and healthy, and Rose and Kanaya could be too late to react when signs of her health deteriorating surfaced suddenly.

Rose heaved a quiet, deep sigh, climbing up on the examination bed, hesitating for a moment. 

"Should I hold her?" Rose asked, getting a nod from the nurse, which she proceeded to move Lilith into her lap. 

Once the syringe was ready, Dr. Foster wrapped a cloth tight on the hybrid's arm, the nurse close behind with a bandaid equipped. Steadily, he probed the needle into the light gray skin, Rose quickly accelerated her grip on Lilith when she started wiggling. 

Two minutes rounded by, the doctor switching to the last test. When the last drop of green tinted blood filled the fourth container, the butterfly syringe was pulled away immediately, the nurse going ahead and pressing a gauze pad to the wound. 

The heart wrenching shrieks that expelled out from Lilith began fading in the room, Rose hurriedly wiped away the tear tracks underneath her eyes. 

"See, there," the nurse softly spoke to Lilith, organizing the small containers with a smile. "It wasn't that hard?" 

The cart was pushed out of the room once a bandaid was taped above the gauze pad on Lilith's arm, cartoon drawn carapacians were designed on the bandage. 

"You'll need to come back tomorrow for the test results," Dr. Foster said, folding his hands behind his back. "I wouldn't have to worry  _too_ much about any scares happening, Lilith already seems quite healthy as far as her appearance tells." 

Her worried assumptions started chipping away at the statement, relaxing a little bit as she quieted Lilith down when the occasional sniff happened.

Thanking the doctor, Rose got up, letting Lilith grasp on tightly to her shirt as she walked to the front desk, to schedule another visit, even when they were out of the building. 

Kanaya was busy folding clothes when the two entered the house, watching as a wave of cats scurried to Rose and brushed up against her leg. 

Rose carefully went through her cats, keeping an eye on the ground to make sure no paws or tails were accidentally stepped on. Kanaya glimpsed at her wife tenderly laying down their daughter on the couch, already fast asleep. 

The bandaid caught Kanaya's gaze, looking at Rose mystified. Rose held up a finger to Kanaya, reaching for a blanket that was draped on the couch's arm rest and tossed it over Lilith. 

"She got blood drawn at the appointment today," Rose said before Kanaya could open her mouth to ask about the bandaid. "We'll have to go back tomorrow for the results - and for another appointment, but it's only X-rays again, I can assure you." 

Kanaya looked skeptic, folding a pair of pants and tucking it away on the pile. 

"What for? The blood subject, I mean." Kanaya inquired. 

"They said it's just a test, to see if any severe issues are uprising through Lilith's blood." Rose explained, sitting down on the couch next to the end of the blanket. 

"Such as?" Kanaya side eyed Rose, waiting for an answer as she held up a wrinkled shirt. 

"Organ failure, blood infections." Rose hummed, recalling what Dr. Foster had told her. 

Kanaya looked appalled, folding the last pair of clothes with a huff. 

"They're out of their mind if they think that's likely," Kanaya shook her head, tidying the pile of fresh clothes. Rose shrugged lightly. 

"It's not just because she's a hybrid, if that's what you're thinking, blood work is actually an important thing to participate in, give it human or troll," Rose said, placing a hand underneath her chin. "Or carapace." 

Kanaya sighed, lifting up a section of clothes into her arms. "I suppose you're right - but I generally am not fond of the fact that we can never forgo a month or even a DAY without bringing up our daughter's health in.... such a ghastly manner." 

Rose slipped off the couch and followed her wife upstairs. "I know, Kan, I don't like it very much either, but we mutually got ourselves roped into this, full well acknowledging the medical areas and all." 

" _How_ did we even rope ourselves into this." Kanaya said thickly, her phrasing more of a statement than a burning question. A plain look crossed Rose's face, the warm clothes dropping onto their bed to be sorted out. 

"It was mainly your fault, not knowing your own reproductive system well enough." Rose commented snidely, earning a glare from the troll. 

"You know that's not what I was referring to." Kanaya frowned, giving a playful slap to Rose's arm when she started giggling almost uncontrollably like a hyena. 

***

The next morning rolled by, and Rose was out of bed after Kanaya, getting ready and waking up Lilith so she could continue her morning process. 

Both Rose and Kanaya made their way to the building, standing at the desk as they waited for Dr. Foster to call them up. Once Dr. Foster did come out, he gestured them to follow him, going into detail about the blood results before anything else, washing his hands in the sink as he asked a nurse to prep the examination. 

The two listened attentively, keeping the hybrid baby occupied with her beloved handmade doll. An outbreak of overwhelming relief flooded both the mothers' minds the moment the doctor safely confirmed Lilith was in an intact condition. 


	10. First Birthday

Heat from the burning stove collected in the house, transmitting a pleasant warm air and a delicate smell of cooking. Kanaya threw the packet of noodles in the boiling water before going back to cutting up watermelon, a backup for dinner if the pasta didn't go so well. She wasn't going to risk giving her wife and daughter, along with herself, unpleasant food poisoning when Lilith's birthday was just a day away. 

Rose was seated on the floor next to Lilith, playing with an interactive toy that flashed colors absurdly whenever Lilith simply pressed any button. 

"You know, dear, I find it without coincidence that Lilith could've easily been a virgo." Rose smirked, watching as the colors blinked off and on Lilith's toy. 

Kanaya snickered from the kitchen, chopping up one more piece of fruit then grabbing lemons from the fridge and a spicy powder in the cabinets. 

"That is true, but Lily had other plans," Kanaya said, cutting the lemons next and squirting the sour juice on the watermelon wedges. "I suppose her sign being a leo does explain why she seems so fascinated by cats." 

"Maybe," Rose mused, reaching to pet a nearby cat as it elicited a purr in response. "Or perhaps, it's just the Lalonde genetics coming into play." 

Kanaya sprinkled tajín powder on the watermelon, layering it in a heartburning amalgamation. A drawn out hum captured Rose's attention, the flashing interactive toy was now pushed a smidge away from Lilith, the hybrid making grabby hands at her. 

As if by instinct, Rose knew exactly what Lilith wanted, rolling her eyes as she proceeded to grab her phone off the couch. It wasn't until a soft tap later that a rhyme that Kanaya found absolutely _dreadful_  sounded out from her phone, handing it to Lilith as she brought the screen close to her with an entertained smile. 

"You didn't forget to inform Jasprosesprite where the party will take place, did you?" Kanaya asked, silently getting irritated from the first repetitive lyrics that rang in her head. 

Rose perked her head up, her shoulders sagging. Right. 

"Of course," Rose responded monotonous. "How could I forget to invite dear aunt Jasprose, hm?" She then said in a mused voice, hunching forward to Lilith. 

Kanaya glowered over at her, going back to the cooking pasta. She could practically see through every bit of Rose's fib. 

" _Rose_." Kanaya warned, suspiciously. Rose sighed dejectedly. 

"Kanaya, I'm sure Jasprose has already took note of the party from Davepeta." Rose told her, only earning a long silence from Kanaya that the blonde could definitely tell was her way to make Rose cough up the truth. 

The silence continued as Kanaya dumped the spaghetti into colander, the boiling water seeping through quickly and creating thick steam that arose from the sink. Giving up once she knew Kanaya wasn't gonna speak another word, Rose grabbed the phone from her daughter's grip. 

"I'm calling her right now, dearest." Rose collapsed, tapping out of the app and causing the shark rhyme to stop abruptly. 

Kanaya smirked, putting the wet noodles into a pan, then delivering the plate of watermelon to the living room. 

"Good." Kanaya merely said, plucking a a spicy watermelon piece into her mouth. Rose watched Lilith curiously take a piece, searching through her contacts as the hybrid's face suddenly - and hilariously - mustered in on itself. 

After the conversation with Jasprose that left Rose beyond annoyed and quick to hang up once the information got through, she looked across from her to see Lilith already eating half the fruit, despite the sour expression that plastered her little face. 

Rose gave a short chuckle of amusement, extracting a watermelon slice from the plate. Muttering echoed from the kitchen, prompting a loud 'splat' afterwards. 

"The spaghetti was ruined," Kanaya huffed, walking out of the kitchen and expressing disappointment. "There were brown edges on the noodles and some were still stale." 

Rose handed a fruit slice to Kanaya responsively, the jadeblood nibbling on it frustratingly as she sat down at Rose's side.

***

"Hold on, Lily." Kanaya murmured, mindfully guiding her daughter across the field. Her hand held on tightly to Lilith's, looking down to see the now one year old taking fast, wobbly steps. 

Her first birthday party had been planned and located, all according to Dave when he begged Rose and Kanaya to let him set up the party for them, near a park in Can Town. It wasn't hard to find the specific park, not when there was a flood of birthday balloons and purple and green streamers that were easily visible from a distance, all clumped in one area. 

Rose cooed at Lilith, taking her other hand into hers. "Look how obnoxiously fantastic your uncle Dave made your party, darling." 

Lilith stuck her tongue out, kicking her legs high as her parents tightened their hold on her hands a bit, making sure she wouldn't accidentally slip. 

Once the small family reached the threshold of the party, Roxy was the first to greet them, going ahead and scooping up Lilith from the ground. 

"Happy birthday, Lilith!" Roxy crooned, glancing at Rose and giving her a tight hug with one arm. "Do you guys mind if I steal her real quick?" they asked, pink eyes bouncing to the side at Lilith.  

"Go ahead." Rose gestured, her lips playing into a smile. Roxy grinned back, diving back into the crowd of their friends. 

Kanaya looped an arm around Rose's, scanning the area. There was a table piled upon with presents, a white box seated an inch away from them, which the jadeblood assumed was the cake. Moving onto the guests, she spotted Jade and John already carrying paper plates of food, Davepeta was nearby the two and frequently snagging chicken pieces from Jade's plate. Everyone seemed to be here, except for Jasprose. 

Kanaya side eyed Rose, and words didn't even need to be exchanged when Rose met her gaze. 

"Kan, I told her  _exactly_ where the party was being held, I didn't inform her anything incorrect." Rose said with caution, beginning to stroll around with her. Kanaya raised an eyebrow, whipping her eyes back up. 

"That's strange," Kanaya hummed. "Well, it is still early, I'm sure Jasprose will appear at a later time." Rose nodded, moving to one of the covered tables and taking a seat, Kanaya following suit. 

Kanaya traced the flower that was implmented into the taffy pink cover, meandering the tip of her claw around the petals. 

Dave crept up on them, placing a hand on Rose's shoulder, then the other on Kanaya's as he put his head in the space between them. 

"How'd I do with the party? Fucking awesome, right?" Dave beamed, then pointed over to the side, making the married couple turn their heads to the direction. "I even got a piñata and shit." A green papier-mache figure hung in the air, Dirk tying the rope that connected to it high up on a tree, letting Jake assist with the job. Rose narrowed her eyes at it, the face of the piñata clicking into her head. 

"Did you really spend money on a Kermit the frog piñata, out of every other one?" Rose raised an eyebrow. 

"They didn't have a Garfield one." Dave shrugged, scratching at his neck. Kanaya looked bewildered at her brother-in-law, which then made Dave open his mouth again.

"Hey, it was either this or some handmade piñata from me." Dave said matter of factly. Kanaya shuddered, the image of a SBAHJ designed piñata hanging from the tree and horrifyingly twisting in the gentle wind made her skin crawl. 

"I think I would've rather preferred one from you." Rose replied, a mischief smile on her face. 

Dave threw his thumb back, "I actually have a spare in the car."

"Definitely not." Kanaya immediately remarked, before Rose could answer. Rose simpered, leaning back in her chair. 

"Also, uh," Dave started, looking around the party. "Where is the birthday girl, anyway?" 

"Off with Roxy." Rose told him. Dave muttered a 'catch you later' before walking off to find Roxy. 

Rose nudged at Kanaya's arm, catching her wanted attention. "Are you hungry?" Rose gently asked, the jadeblood hesitating for a moment. Before she could respond, Vriska ran up to them, slamming her hands on the table. 

"You guys are finally here," Vriska chimed. "Pah! Took you long enough." 

"We got side tracked with a few tasks." Rose asserted, Vriska emitting an unimpressed breath. 

"Doing what? Fussing about all those cats of yours?" Vriska grabbed a chair across from them, sitting down in an improper fashion. "How many do you guys have anyway? Like thirteen?" 

"Sixteen." Kanaya corrected, disregarding the flabbergasted expression that bore Vriska's face. 

"Where's Terezi?" Rose inquired suddenly. Vriska gestured to the side, where her matesprit was laughing along with Roxy and Dave, including the Mayor, as he reached up to gingerly grab Lilith from Roxy, uncovering his mouth to kiss the one year old on the cheek. 

"And Aranha?" Kanaya piped up, fixing her eyes back on the ceruleanblood. 

"She's already started pupating," Vriska announced, a velvet soft tone dripping in her words. "We didn't really expect it when I checked up on Aranha this morning, but hey! Terezi and I will be ecstatic as hell once the pupation process is finally over with." 

Going back to gazing around the party as the two trolls conversed, Rose intently stared straightforwardly, pondering where ever Jasprose could be. 

Her absence prolonged even when Jane started cutting the cake, then unwrapping the presents, and breaking open the piñata to free all the sweets that were bundled inside it. 

The party was already over and the sun began dying down, and Jasprose  _still_ didn't arrive. 

Having to clean up the last few party objects themselves, Rose and Kanaya picked up any streamers from the ground, not forgetting to also throw the beheaded muppet piñata into the nearest dumpster. 

Jade voluntarily stayed behind to watch over Lilith for them as they cleaned up the area. The hybrid seemed completely exhausted, sitting down contently on Jade's lap and resting her head against the present Karkat got her; a grisly looking and worn out stuffed toy that took on the appearance of Karkat's ancestor, if you just excluded the features that were exaggerated. 

Rose looked distracted, sluggishly picking up the streamers and left over candy that none of the guests spotted, which gained Kanaya's attention right away. 

"Rose, is everything okay?" Kanaya asked, grabbing the last green streamer she could see. 

"I'm confused as to why Jasprose didn't show up for any part of the celebration." Rose answered, Jade perked up promptly. 

Kanaya shrugged, crumpling up the thin streamers in her palm. "She always seems to be jumping around, I assume she just didn't have the time to make it." 

Jade popped her mouth open, but before a word could come out, a flicker of purple ruptured in the air, then with a blink of an eye, Lilith was zapped out of Jade's lap. 

Floating idly above the three women, Jasprose handled Lilith in a hyper manner, nuzzling the hybrid's cheek as happy squeals spilled from her. 

"Hi, Rose, Kanaya!" Jasprose smiled, balancing Lilith carelessly with one hand, before placing the one year old back on her stomach. "I apologize for completely missing the party for my alternate self's daughter, I don't have any justifiable reason unfortunately." 

The way Jasprose carried Lilith so irresponsibly sparked a surge of anxiety to flood Kanaya, her hand clutching at her shirt as her eyes stayed glued on the two. 

"Bye bye, mama!" Lilith squeaked, making the Kanaya snap her head at her wife, her gaze yelling ' _Rose!_ '. 

Rose was already fed up, arranging to fly up and take Lilith, until Jade swiftly did so and smoothly getting her from Jasprose, murmuring something to the sprite that neither Rose or Kanaya could make out. 

"I would prefer if you stopped handling my daughter in such an atrocious manner." Rose said lightly, once Jade made contact with the ground again, Lilith now wide awake in her arms. 

Jasprose purred, hovering slightly down to the same level as Rose's forehead. "Oh, but Rose, do you really think I'd drop her so recklessly?" 

Rose crossed her arms, Jasprose seamlessly averting her direction towards Jade. 

"And here I thought you were upset because my presence was lacking in this special day." Jasprose jabbed with a false sulk. Kanaya shuffled over to Jade, sighing in relief as she handed Lilith to her. 

"I was more upset about what Lilith's thoughts were that you wouldn't show up," Rose huffed. "It's unfathomable of how much she's attached to you." 

Jasprose displayed a shit-eating grin, "Well, is that any surprise? I am technically her mother, ergo alternative selves and whatnot." 

Rose looked immensely baffled at her statement, about to speak a rebuttal, though Jasprose's words roared over her own. 

"I have to go now, sadly, but I'm sure it's almost past Lilith's bedtime." Jasprose purred, unexpectedly brushing up against Jade, the fur on her ears tickling the bright eyed girl's cheek. 

A flurry of confusion at the sudden affection swept both Rose and Kanaya, watching as Jasprose separated from their friend and gliding back above them. She bid them a quick goodbye, smirking at Rose then disappearing out of thin air. 

The blonde looked over at Jade, perplexed. Jade clasped her hands together, a coy smile painting her face. 

"We've been dating since last week." 

A groan slipped out of Rose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating whether or not I wanted to do a timeskip to Lilith's first birthday, but I thought it'd be nice to pick up the pace since there's already like at least seven chapters where she's only a few months old. Don't wanna drag the babby phase too long!!  
> Pls leave a comment or kudo if you liked the chapter, and stick around if you're still enjoying my self indulgent fic so far.


	11. Second First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be planning to add dirkjohn and callijaneroxy into the story, but I wanted to see how you guys feel about it first before any future chapters! so vote here whether or not you'd like to see those pairings included: https://www.strawpoll.me/17680415
> 
> also, I made an alt account for my writing since I didn't wanna clog up my main with writing stuff!! it's @paechwrites

Terezi stared aimlessly at the teal cocoon, hunching over with her elbow rested on her knee, a tired expression seemingly permanent on her face. The room was empty, save for the cocoon, every furniture they had stored in there when Aranha was still active as a grub was pushed completely out, and abandoned in the front yard. A month had gone sluggishly by, and the weeks were full of anticipation. 

Her focus on the progression of the cocoon didn't budge, not until footsteps resounded behind her. Terezi crooked her neck to the side, receiving a small tap to the shoulder. 

"You know you don't have to spend all your time in here, right?" Vriska's voice interjected, the tealblood slumped before facing forward. 

"I want to make sure I'm the one she sees first, I  _am_ her favourite mom after all." Terezi remarked, a kidding smile on her face.

Vriska smirked, rolling her eyes at her affirmation as she relaxed onto her knees.

"Kanaya will be here in a minute to bring over some clothes she made for Aranha," Vriska drawled. "Maybe she'll be able to drag you out of here before you start perishing while our wriggler is still pupating."

Terezi scoffed, shifting around in her spot until she was comfortable again, then draping an arm over her face. 

"You'll have to raise Aranha on your own now, because I can already feel myself succumbing to the deathly state," Terezi's arm slid down, a dull look expressed on her face. "Of boredom." 

"We still have another whole week of this." Vriska reminded her matesprit, causing a disgruntled noise to escape her. The ceruleanblood shushed her.

"Yeah, it's taking practically forever but like," Vriska asserted, shrugging her shoulders along with her words. "Once Aranha pops out, we can do that  _gross_ affectionate family shit Rose and Kanaya do - except our kid is gonna be better." She added with a confident grin. Terezi chortled, perking up her head when she heard a loud knock ring throughout the halls and into the room.

"I just hope Aranha doesn't have too much Serket in her, she'll end up terrorizing every educational prison we enroll her in!" Terezi spouted as Vriska lifted herself up to go answer the door. 

Vriska shook her head. "She'll have Maryam's girl to keep her grounded, 'cuz god knows what Rose and Kanaya are probably alerting Lilith about." She snickered, then disappeared out of the room. 

***

The final week gradually bounced by, and both Vriska and Terezi watched the pupation coon like a hawk. Any day their grub could burst out, giggling or whining instead of chirrups, each day was a possibility. 

Vriska lazily read through the message Rose sent her, informing the ceruleanblood that her and Kanaya were coming over soon, sending another text after that stated she couldn't decline their visit since they were already out of the house. 

Terezi pressed her back against Vriska, a _'clack'_ sound emitting when her horns hit the rims of Vriska's glasses, muttering to her. "This is it, Aranha is gonna come out today," then a brief pause from Terezi before continuing. "I can feel it." 

Responsively, Vriska laid her chin on Terezi's rough, black hair, scrunching up her nose when her girlfriend's hair tickled her face. 

Distantly, a knock was heard, promptly making Vriska grab her phone and message Rose to just come in. The door creaked open, following a series of uneven pitter patters that the trolls immediately recognized. 

Swiveling their head around, Rose and Kanaya stood at the door way, Lilith by their side and holding Kanaya's hand. Lilith must've been woken up from a nap, because the young hybrid was slacking against Kanaya and looking absolutely drowsy, and still dressed in her moth onesie. Though, Lilith always did wear those particular pajamas at any given time, whether she was tired or not. 

A baby bottle was tightly grasped in her other hand, something her parents were frustratingly trying to wean her off of. Rose's eyes wandered around the room as they entered, catching the cocoon in her sights and stopping there. 

"Her pupation should be close to its end by now." Rose stated, examining it before looking back at Vriska and Terezi with a knowing look. Kanaya sat down on the floor with reluctance, tenderly pulling Lilith down to her. Lilith issued a small whine as she collapsed onto Kanaya's lap, grazing her maw harshly on the rubbery tip of her bottle.

"Mama." Lilith murmured to Kanaya in a clear fussy manner.

Kanaya softly shushed her daughter, rubbing soothing circles on her back with her palm, hoping the action managed quell any complaints.

"Little fangs," Vriska hollered, gaining Lilith's attention quickly despite her dazed state. "What's up with her?" She raised an eyebrow, turning towards Rose. 

"We woke her up abruptly in the middle of her nap," Rose answered, watching attentively as the hybrid began to squirm without warning, bringing Rose to walk closer to Kanaya. "Dear, would you like me to help you with that?" 

A booming snap of Vriska's fingers brought the two distressed mothers to shift their gaze over to her. Vriska extended out an open hand, scooting back an inch from Terezi. 

"Give her to me, I'll calm her down." Vriska advised, Rose and Kanaya hesitated for a moment. Her and Terezi  _did_ have a wriggler of their own, as certainly perceived from the main focus in the room, surely Vriska would already have a rough idea of Lilith's care. Frankly, the thought of handing off their own daughter to Vriska, of all people, because of the inability of calming her themselves was baffling in their minds. 

A whine that threatened to spill tears, however, made Kanaya forcibly rid those thoughts and oblige with her request. Once Lilith was passed to Vriska, extracting the bottle from her first, the ceruleanblood held her up at the same level as her face, trying to maintain eye contact for a short period. 

" _Wow_ , she's really upset." Vriska commented dryly, her voice imitating a mock surprised tone, earning an indignant glare from Kanaya. Maneuvering so Lilith was suddenly plopped onto Terezi, Vriska moved back to her original position, looking past Terezi's shoulder to see Lilith's irritated mood begin to drain leisurely. 

The sight made Kanaya balk and narrow her eyes; it was absolutely preposterous how little effort Vriska had to make to even soothe her. Betrayal from her own offspring, it seems. Before Kanaya could voice her complaints, a tear striked on the cocoon startlingly, lending no time for anyone in the room to act swiftly except for a dumbfounded stare. It only took four seconds until the front was ripped completely open, exposing a newly formed being with teal slime coating her skin and the base of her contrasting horns. 

Urgently handing back Lilith to Kanaya, Terezi was the first to lift herself up and stagger towards the wriggler, swiftly pulling Aranha out of the broken coon. Vriska didn't waste a minute to join Terezi, quickly making her way as euphoria buzzed through her. Just like the first moment Vriska and Terezi were mesmerized by their daughter when she finally busted out of the egg, the two showered Aranha with affection that seemed never ending; though the young tealblood, this time, didn't mind the repetitive nuzzling, and instead basked in it with bubbly giggles that echoed throughout the room. 

Rose and Kanaya looked on joyously at the other two mothers, Lilith gazing with extreme interest at the new, unexpected company. Terezi kneeled onto the floor with Aranha safely in her arms, her matesprit following suit and crowding around her. 

She gently placed Aranha onto the ground, piquing Lilith to shift up on Kanaya's lap. The hybrid watched as Aranha held onto Terezi's forearms for support, shaking as she tried to stand, failing to do so without no surprise. 

Lilith huffed, scooting off her troll mother's lap and taking a careful step onto the surface. With occasional wobbly movements that made Rose lurk near Lilith and ready to grab her if she fell, Lilith trudged to Aranha and stood in place once she was in front of her. 

"Make sure to not bonk her on the head this time." Terezi said lightheartedly, wiping away any clumps of slime in her daughter's soaked hair. Aranha tried another attempt to pull herself up, repeating the failure again and falling back. 

With a steady bend of the hybrid's knees and an extended arm that pointed in Aranha's direction, waiting for the young tealblood to grab ahold, Aranha went ahead and gripped tightly onto her offered hand. Delicately, Lilith tugged Aranha up, though gave a few seconds for the tealblood to create her own pace as she stood up once more. 

Almost a minute went by that Aranha was standing, though very unstable, before she predictably fell back down. Lilith tried encouraging her to stand up once more, as Terezi disconnected their hands. 

"She'll get used to walking, eventually, don't worry about it," Terezi assured her, picking up Aranha and elevating up. "First, we need to get her dressed." 

***

Vriska watched intently as Aranha acquired a ruby red colored block, looking clueless at it before chucking it weakly towards her mother. Vriska nabbed the object, placing it to the side where different colored blocks were assorted into groups. 

Nonchalantly, Terezi entered the room, carrying a bowl of dry cheerios and plopping down on the couch. The sound of the oldest tealblood noisily eating punctured the room, inducing Aranha to grab the nearest block and drag her teeth across, leaving indents. 

"We need to get Aranha one of those teething things." Vriska piped up, letting her daughter chew on the block for a few more seconds before she decided to take it away. 

"I tried giving her one of my scalemates but she ripped off its head." Terezi said, earning a low giggle to slip out from her girlfriend. 

"She's not  _that_ bad," Vriska crooned, ghosting the pads of her fingers over the side of Aranha's face. "She probably just didn't like them." 

Terezi gasped, purposely sounding comical, the dry cereal shifting in the bowl as she jumped in her seat. "No grub of mine dislikes my scalemates!" 

"Oh, you better believe it." Vriska replied slyly. Terezi crossed her arms, turning her nose up in the air. 

"I demand a DNA test from Aranha Pyrope-Serket," She huffed. "Those are the court orders." Vriska shrugged lightly. 

"Isn't having 'Pyrope' attached to Aranha's name enough evidence," Vriska pointed out, raising one finger then a second. "And her blood color - and one of her horns!" 

Terezi hummed thoughtfully, stroking at her chin as her endlessly red eyes shifted to the wall behind her equally as red shades. "Those are good case points, but that doesn't explain Aranha's bloodshed she performed on the victim." 

Terezi threw an accusing finger at her daughter, directing the ceruleanblood's attention to Aranha. She seemed to have moved the last remaining blocks into groups that didn't exactly coordinate with their respective color during her parents' amusing brawl. 

"You got this mixed up, Aranha," Vriska told her, going ahead and switching the groups correctly. One more block was left out, handing it over to Aranha so she could place it herself. "Now you try." 

Aranha glimpsed at the bright green shape, looking back at the hue of blocks that were organized in front of her. The way she hesitated made a surge of suspicion pass through Vriska, examining closely as Aranha faltered for a second before sticking the block into a completely different shade of said object. 

It took a moment for the ceruleanblood to piece together the situation, her eyes widening in bewilderment once the issue became clear to her. 

"Aranha is color blind." 

Terezi perked up, raising an eyebrow as she set aside her bowl on the cushions. "What?" She sounded completely lost at Vriska's statement. 

"I don't think she can tell what certain colors are which," Vriska instituted, gesturing at Aranha with an open palm and not taking her eyes off of her. "She looks too clueless when it comes to some of the colors of the blocks." 

A confused expression graced Terezi's face, studying Aranha for a minute while before shifting into a worried look.

"Do you think she's had this since the beginning? Before pupating." Terezi pondered. Vriska dawdled, shaking her head in response when she couldn't find a stable answer in her mind. 

"I don't know," she mused, watching as Terezi brought Aranha to her lap. "I'm sure there's something that can help with this defect, though!" 

Terezi turned her head at Vriska, securing Aranha in her arms. "Like what?" 

"I bet there's already been, like, a dozen cases of trolls and humans going colorblind," Vriska said matter of factly, hoping to ease her girlfriend's worries with her sentiment. "There's gotta be something on this useless planet that can easily help us with her problem." 

The tealblood glanced at nothing in particular, visibly sifting through her thoughts and mulling over Vriska's words, then nodding slightly before an assured smile pulled up at her cheeks. 

"Yeah - yeah! Maybe we could get her some type of glasses that can assist her with the colors she can't see." Terezi added, a grin languidly plastering her face, that was thoroughly doused in hopefulness. 


	12. Dark Sky, Bright Skin

A sudden stream of nonstop sniffles stirred the jadeblood awake instantaneously, blinking her eyes twice as they adjusted to the pitch darkness that invaded outside. A little figure was visibly outlined in the room, white fabric that was held on tight standing out clearly in the darkness.

Kanaya sat up on the bed with careful movements, avoiding to disturb her wife that was sound asleep. It didn't take a second for Kanaya to recognize her daughter's face through the unilluminated area, and especially the tears that saturated her cheeks. 

"Lilith?" Kanaya whispered in a duclet tone, beckoning her over with a hand, which the young hybrid promptly followed. "Lilith, are you okay?"  

Lilith grasped onto the cotton sheets, attempting to climb up onto the bed without assistance, until Kanaya went ahead and hoisted the hybrid up and in her lap anyways. Kanaya was quick to wipe away her tears, gently dragging her thumb across her cheek, breaking a consistent tear streak. 

A soft hum resonated in her throat, her normally gray skin turning a luminescent white, filling the room with the light her daughter desperately wanted. Kanaya had an informed guess that Lilith's cries were caused by the dark - something that happened frequently, the hybrid would be put to sleep with her room lights on, before either of her mothers decided it was time to turn them off, leading to a frightful Lilith with a phobia of darkness to wake up and come sobbing towards her parents room. 

Rose heavily considered purchasing a nightlight for her, lest she start a nightly routine of shaking her mothers awake and needing Kanaya to turn her glow on to suffice. The jadeblood started up soothing rubs pressed into her daughter's back, as hiccups echoed in the room. Lilith's grip on Kanaya's shirt loosened, the cries that racked her body stopping abruptly not long after, save for only light sniffs. 

Kanaya murmured as much comforting words as she could, dimming her glow slightly; Rose was still sleeping, after all. Waiting for a moment as Lilith's weeping outburst had officially subsided, Kanaya slid a finger under her chin, tenderly lifting her head up and meeting the same green shade as hers. 

"Is everything adequate now?" Kanaya hummed, earning a short lived nod in response before Lilith brushed her sleeve against her nose. Letting a few minutes pass as Kanaya continued to rub her back, the jadeblood scooped her daughter into her arms, shifting off the bed and groggily making her way to Lilith's room. 

Lilith's hand suddenly sharpened on Kanaya's shirt, causing Kanaya to sigh, halting at the doorway. 

"Lily, you have to go back to bed, it's only," Kanaya quickly glanced at the clock. "Two in the morning - and that is a  _very_ deplorable time for you to be already awake." 

Lilith huffed, tugging at her mother's collar. "Dawk." 

Kanaya stared blankly at Lilith, her shoulders sagging with exhaustion. 

"Lilith, I have to sleep as well," Kanaya told her, sauntering out of the room finally. "Unlike you, my darling, having my glow - or any kinds of light, really -kept on for an ludicrous long period is a bit challenging to even get an hour of rest." 

Lilith mewled a dissatisfied sound, the door to her bedroom wide open and her crib bar slid down, enough for Lilith to escape carefully. In tune with her sudden awakening of her mothers, the hybrid managed to successfully create a route for herself out of the crib, after examining Rose and Kanaya unlock the hatch for numbers of times. 

For the very least, even though it was a bothersome problem with her escapades, Kanaya was reassured that she stopped trying to crawl out instead, evidently getting herself hurt in the process. 

As the one year old was laid down, a disgruntled expression was plastered on her face, kicking her short legs as Kanaya tucked her in with thin blankets. A kiss was soon planted on Lilith's forehead, brushing back her black hair with a soft smile. Before leaving, Kanaya moved the bar back to position, shuffling to the door as whines pierced the room and into her chest. 

With a glimpse back, Kanaya was surprised at how fast Lilith was already standing in her crib and gripping the snowy colored frame, looking dejectedly at Kanaya. A pang surged within her, contemplating as she hesitated at the door. 

Though, once the light that shined from Kanaya's skin fell completely low, the frightened cry that her daughter let out in response, pushed the jadeblood to reach for Lilith and pull her out from her crib, then making her travel back to her and Rose's bedroom. Kanaya, truthfully, really did retain her weak link for their daughter, starting from the morning Rose and Kanaya were able to finally take Lilith home; a great deal of tears slipped, with the realization of reality finally settling in for the both of them, practically hitting them like arrows that were drenched in a reminder they were actually  _parents_.

Her glow remained off, however, which stirred immediate confusion from Lilith, as they entered the room and Kanaya thoroughly placed Lilith close to Rose, before getting under the covers herself. 

The meek noise Lilith made quickly alerted Kanaya, speaking out a hushed 'no', and leaving it at that as she closed her eyes. It was silent for a moment, only soft creaks of the bed as something shifted into another position. 

It wasn't long, until the familiar upsetting noise rang out in the room, Kanaya lazily peering her eyes open to see her daughter sitting up and leaning onto Rose. 

Sighing into the space between them, light manifested the room's gloomy corners, and hitting the hybrid's face, enough to see a smile casting on her face and her green orbs flickering in the comforting light she's latched onto since her first days of living. 

Kanaya stretched her arm forward, bringing Lilith to her and disposing a layer of kisses across her forehead; a grin curled on her face as elated, contagious giggles bursted out of her daughter. She swiftly pulled the covers up a tad more, making sure that the young hybrid was comfortable and guarded from the cold. 

"A nightlight is going to have to substitute my rainbow drinker glow as your light source, one day, Lilith," Kanaya hummed, brushing back a curling strand that framed the young hybrid's face. "Your mother once had reiterate nightmares about the dark." Kanaya mused, continuing on with her statement, despite Lilith's attention being diverted to her feline doll. 

"She was much older than you, but still very young - and a  _very_ different reason, though to save the already present complications, I'll go more in depth about it once you're, perhaps, older," Kanaya reflected, humming thoughtfully for a minute.

"She was afraid of it, rightfully so, and it gradually culminated into a more urgent tendency, moreso than yours, so I hope you see the picture here." 

A mumbled out 'mama' prompted Kanaya to coo a string of affectionate sounds, resting her elbow on her pillow as her palm pressed into the underside of her chin, staring down at Lilith with a drowsy gaze. 

"Those nightmares didn't wane, they went on long enough to cause stress for your mother and I, sucking out the life of both of us." Kanaya recounted, the distant and almost hazy memories of the meteor, of when Rose would wake from a dream filled with horrorterrors and sit up with hiccups and tears that seemed to never stop flooding her eyes, demanding Kanaya to switch on her glow then wrap herself around Kanaya, searching for comfort from the startled jadeblood. 

And now that Kanaya recognized those patterns, and why she already seemed to be acquainted with the problem at hand, more than Rose did. 

Suddenly, a warm smile pulled at Kanaya's lips, proceeding to remove her elbow and instead collapse her head against the fluffy pillow. "A week before our wedding, fortunately, those fretful dreams halted completely, and from my knowledge for the very least, haven't made an attempt to torment Rose anymore since then." 

Lilith issued a line of amused sounding peeps, earning another kiss to her cheek. 

"And you know what I believe sealed a barrier between her and the relentlessly appearing nightmares?" the jadeblood uttered in a lethargic voice, breathing out a relieved sigh as Lilith began to close her eyes after dully rubbing at them, drifting off back to sleep before Kanaya decided to do the same, murmuring out her answer languidly. "You, Lily."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to follow my writing blog: paechwrites, if you're interested in seeing sneak peeks of my drafts and little bits of the marylonde fam!!


	13. Dwell

Clumsy thuds resonated outside of their bedroom, stopping for a moment and being replaced with the sounds of their door's handle being struggled with, before it was finally still as the door pushed open to reveal a small frame already cladded in her handmade moth pajamas without any delay.

Kanaya paused her repeated movements of hanging up clothes inside the closet, Rose following the same with her reading activity as her purple eyes flickered up at the one year old standing at the foot of the bed. Rose noticed her balled up fist when she brought it up into the air, averting her attentions to the miniature toothbrush that stuck out of her hand. 

An incident had took place on their afternoon picnic; the incident, in question, involved a fairly large  _roach_ and Lilith, ever so curiously about her vampire akin inheritance, initiating a test to suck the insect's blood. Predictably, once Rose and Kanaya seized her, they swiped the pest away and tossed its most likely lifeless body back into the grass - demanding what exactly goaded their daughter to try and suck a  _bug's_ contaminated blood, of all things. 

The answer they got back, however, was an embarrassing and flushing induced one. Despite Lilith's limited vocabulary, she was perfectly able to spell out the reasoning; having caught her mothers on an evening when Kanaya carefully dragged her sharp fangs across Rose's neck in a teasingly manner, softly piercing her wife's skin and only getting a droplet of blood splashed onto her tongue before spotting Lilith at the doorway, speedily removing her canines as she squeaked and dislocated a startled Rose off her lap. 

Huffing at the memory, Rose set aside her book and slid off the bed, collecting Lilith into her arms before heading to the bathroom with a quick quip to her wife. 

"Please make sure you've locked the door the next time we try to initiate anything carnal." Rose said, her voice coated with warning. Kanaya cleared her throat, speckles of green dotting her cheeks as she quickly resumed to hooking the clothing rack onto the smooth bar. 

Making her way to the bathroom and opening the door, Rose brushed aside a tuft of hair from Lilith's temple, as she set her on the rim of the sink, receiving a string of inconsistent, high purrs from the hybrid. 

She slid the toothbrush out from her daughter's palm, getting ready to assist with cleaning off any left over particles of the roach. Her fangs, that were barely starting to erupt and were adorably miniscule with no developing sharp edges yet, seemed to be the only victims of the remaining bug bits - which was no surprise, considering what originated her idea in the first place. 

After diligently brushing around and on the surface of Lilith's fangs - with a tad of fuss being thrown on occasion - Rose washed the cobalt hued paste off the toothbrush, leaving it on the sink and picking Lilith off the rim, using her sleeve to wipe at her daughter's mouth. 

As soon as that was taken care of, Rose was quick to exit the bathroom, heading straight for Lilith's room and settling the hybrid in her crib, planting a tender kiss to her forehead; Lilith, clearly, wasn't ready to drift into sleep, fussing underneath her bright orange blanket. Rose made an effort to ignore it, proceeding to make sure the lock was in a tight state, a little more than usual that didn't comply with the obvious minimal strength the one year old had to unlatch the rail in the first place. 

Once secured, Rose trudged back to her room, being greeted with the sight of Kanaya organizing clothes on the bed in a seemingly distracting manner. Her movements were a bit leisure, looking obviously not focused on her task and supposedly engulfed in her thoughts. 

It wasn't until Rose cleared her throat that Kanaya peeled her glassy eyes from the fabrics, looking up at her wife with an expression that indicated she was pulled from her meandering thoughts. 

Shuffling over to the opposite side of the bed, Rose collapsed onto the mattress, causing the bed to bounce for a second as squeaks emitted into the room. Kanaya smoothed out a ripple in the comforter, going back to folding the newly washed clothes and slipping them onto a hanger. 

"Kanaya," Rose started up, observing as the jadeblood gained back the same, spaced out look she had seconds ago. "Is everything alright?" 

Kanaya hesitated, her mouth opening a tad before sewing it back up, collecting the hangers into her hands and turning to the closet. "Everything is perfectly fine, dear." She assured, proceeding to hang their clothes into the closet with a steady gaze. 

Rose narrowed her eyes at Kanaya, shifting on the bed for a moment. 

"You've seemed a bit distracted lately," Rose mused, her tone deadpanning for a minute. "Unless the abrupt moments where you would be lost in thought while glazing over at the wall is nothing to be alerted by." 

A sigh pushed through Kanaya's nose, sorting through the hangers as she tried to find an available spot to hang the last one. 

"I guess I have been....contemplating a few things." Kanaya uttered out, her answer only piquing Rose's inquisitive state. 

"Oh? Would it be ludicrous of me to ask you to define what you mean by 'a few things'?" Rose prodded on. Kanaya's shoulders went slack, sliding the hanger into a tight space. 

"Um, no, I suppose not," Kanaya conferred, reaching a hand to the side and closing the closet after the task was completed. "Though, I must advise, the topic is a bit, ah, sensitive and, complicated. I'd rather just keep this down, really, but knowing you I don't think I can continue to do that." 

A small smile played on Rose's lips, giving a side glance to her wife. 

"Well, I sure would hope so that I'm able to encourage you from not bottling up any of your problems, Mrs. Maryam." Rose smirked. Kanaya seated herself on the bed, resting her hands on her lap. 

A few minutes passed by, the jadeblood carefully picked her words in silence, before she decided to voice any sentences and accidentally let a terrible slip up of her words. 

"Rose, you know how much I love being here - with you, I have never experienced this much happiness on Alternia as I do here, and having Lilith only heightened it more," Kanaya began, cutting off her statement when Rose's voice interjected. 

"I mean, that I can certainly tell, what with your constant smothering and apparent need to be at my side as a servant would, for practically the whole duration of the pregnancy." Rose teased, earning a glare from Kanaya. 

"I was worried about you, Rose, and our baby." 

"That doesn't mean you'd have to supervise me while I walk up the stairs!" 

"Yes, but, I had my concerns," Kanaya huffed. "You could've slipped one day."

"I can float, Kan." Rose dully reminded, though it still didn't budge her wife. Kanaya continued on with her former sentence, shifting herself more onto the bed.  

"Like I was saying earlier, Rose, I am  _very_ happy to be with you and be able to recreate a new, _better_ life on Earth C for my species, because Alternia was most definitely a very horrid home to grow up in, with cullings of innocent low-blooded trolls almost being considered a norm," Kanaya glowered, taking a deep breath as her face softened once more. "But somehow, even with the negative feelings I carry for Alternia, I find myself to be.....missing it." 

Rose perked up, raising an eyebrow at Kanaya's statement, which provoked the jadeblood to sputter. 

"It's not that I'd like to go back to Alternia, definitely not, but I just," Kanaya deflated, scooting closer to her wife and laying her head on her lap. "Sometimes I miss Alternia, purely because it was somewhere that I spent the majority of my grubhood, and with my lusus - I don't long for the customs it had, however. It's complicated." She finished, scratching her wrist as a nervous tick. 

Rose faltered for a moment, hovering her fingers above Kanaya's silky, black hair before delving into the roots and running her finger pads along the jadeblood's scalp. Kanaya's dilemma was very confusing, yes, but Rose would be damned if she didn't at least  _try_ to help Kanaya, even though it couldn't fully wrap around her head. 

"It could just be because of overwhelming nostalgia, dear," Rose hummed, making circles around one of Kanaya's horns. "Usually, nostalgia could twist one's own view of things, no matter how terrible the person thought it was, just the mere distant memory of it could trigger woeful emotions and longing to return to that point in time." 

"The thought makes me forlorn, though." Kanaya sighed, purrs revving up in her chest at Rose's ministrations. 

"How so?" Rose murmured, bringing her hand down to the troll's pointy ears. 

"If I was still in Alternia, I wouldn't be here with you and Lily." Kanaya said, receiving a kiss to the side of her head. 

"That hypothetical makes me utterly upset as well," Rose deplored, carresing her wife's head and gazing at the enchanting jade green eyes that she flourished. "I would travel all across Alternia for you." 

Kanaya's face dusted in green, a snort flowing out of her not long after. "You sound like Terezi, darling." 

Rose peppered Kanaya's face with rows of kisses, leaving violet lipstick prints on every inch of the jadeblood's face. 

"Mm, speaking of Terezi, perhaps you could consult her about your problem, or Vriska and Karkat, surely one of them might be experiencing the same feeling as you." Rose told her, smooching the tip of her nose.

"Maybe," Kanaya smiled, slithering her arms around Rose's neck and intiating a kiss of her own. "I need a bit more time to sort out how exactly I feel, and how I am going to phrase it to begin with, because I was already filled with worry that you might possibly think I didn't want to be with you if I told you." 

"I do have to admit, Kanaya, I did begin to feel dejected when you first said you missed Alternia." Rose breathed, causing Kanaya to kiss her once more. She held the kiss for a second longer than the last, breaking apart with a soft puff of breath that brushed against Rose's face. 

"Don't be," Kanaya spoke in a gentle voice. "I love you and our daughter with every inch of my being, and I'd rather stay on Earth C where I'm able to bask in the sun as I tend to my flowers without any worries of drones or of my remaining friends getting injured." She asserted, moving to sit up right and drape her legs over Rose's lap. The blonde smiled contently at her, giving her another comforting kiss to her cheek that put Kanaya's muddled issues to rest, for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> epilogues who??  
> but seriously, that shit aside, the only thing I'm struggling with a bit into incorporating is Roxy's gender? I don't really know what pronouns to use for Roxy in this story, and I don't want to upset anyone!! so getting feedback on that matter would be great and much appreciated.


	14. Substitution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking three stabs at characters I haven't handled how to write yet hell yeah

The moment Roxy reported to the others of the ectomachines temporary rundown, disconcertingly spawning only green fluids without no stable form, Dave and Karkat completely scrapped ectobiology out of the list. A list that was categorized for the possibilities that Earth C had offered to help produce children, a list that was created after their wedding affair that went by three months now, once the two heavily agreed on the subject of having children. The three choices were suggested together, along with Dave prodding Karkat in a joking manner to add a fourth; it being the "human custom" way, the same way Rose and Kanaya accidentally did that they didn't even have a clue they could do. 

This acquired the blond one of Karkat's common rants that was meant to drive sense into him, getting heated as he fully detailed to his husband  _why_ it wouldn't work for them in particular. Butt babies, Dave called them, as he watched Karkat draw a box around the three options, with no fitted room for another alternate. 

Scribbling out the first suggestion with a sharp tipped pencil, Karkat moved down to the two remaining options that were so dully written that he had to narrow his eyes to fully read it. 

The second - or whichever - option was adoption, not exactly specific from where but Karkat could only guess from the caverns. Kanaya would always fuss about the large flood of grubs that would slowly but surely get taken in by trolls, or humans, or even carapacians. Lusii were becoming almost uncommon than they usually used to be, but it definitely wasn't a weird sight to see a young troll with their lusus in public. 

Further moving down, the next option read surrogacy. Something Karkat had been greatly confused on when Dave brought up the concept, but went along with when it was explained more thoroughly. The option, personally to Karkat, served as a backup plan if anything somehow occurred to their first pick, which neither actually anticipated to happen and came with ultimate surprise. 

The quiet click of the door opening stirred Karkat in his chair, lifting his gaze up and at Dave, who was sauntering through the living room with his hands buried in his pockets. 

"So," Dave started, casually sitting down on the couch. "The ectolab doesn't work." 

Karkat hummed, tapping the eraser embedded to his pencil against the table with hard thuds. Dave scratched at the side of his face. 

"Any other next baby plans?" Dave asked, awaiting an answer from the mutant troll.

Karkat shrugged, side eyeing his husband. "There's just two more, either we go with the adoption process or get someone to carry a baby for us." He told him, holding his pencil in between his pointer and middle finger. 

"Tough decision," Dave replied lightheartedly. "I'm pretty fine with whatever option, having some little adopted munchkins or Strider jrs running around both seem good." 

"Who the fuck said you would be the one to father an offspring through the surrogate alternative?" Karkat said, letting out a short chuckle. Dave raised both of his eyebrows behind his shades at the response. 

"Well, shit, looks like if we choose surrogacy, we're gonna need  _two_ surrogate moms." Dave jested, as Karkat turned back to the beige paper displayed in front of him. 

"I'm just kidding, I don't really give a fuck's worth about which one of us the kid is genetically related to, they're gonna be a little bulge muncher either way," Karkat uttered, hovering the pencil over the paper. "Besides, from what Kanaya and Rose have said about how, understandably, abnormal and complicated human-troll hybrids are, I'd rather not divulge into that." He huffed, the memory of Kanaya stressing and fumbling with Lilith for the first months she was born treaded in his mind. Karkat was more sensible than Rose and Kanaya, that was for sure; the ectomachines malfunctioning could be considered a save for him and Dave, as first time parents, just like Rose and Kanaya were. The last thing he'd want was to end up in the same predicament as his overambitious friends. 

Dave ran his fingers through his blonde hair, leaning back onto the couch with a pondering hum. 

"So, I'm guessin' this means we're aiming for the surrogate option?" Dave inquired. Karkat paused in thought, shrugging as his red orbs flickered over to the living room. 

" _Is_ that the option we're settling on?" Karkat queried, admittedly leaning towards that choice, though he'd rather wait and see if they were in sync about it before anything.

Dave thought over the option deeply, shrugging back at him, not really matching up with his made up decision. 

"Honestly, Karkat, human babies are less of a hassle than grubs," Dave stated, faltering for a moment before adding on. "Not saying human babies are easy, because they're hard as shit to handle as well and they suck out your energy completely, but like, compared to grubs? human babies seem like a walk in the park." 

Karkat looked questionably at the blond, his bushy eyebrow lifted up in his gaze. "Don't human babies cry and throw fits more often than grubs?" 

"Hey, at least none of our furniture will be used as a chew toy." Dave pointed out, causing the mutant troll to reluctantly agree, crossing out the adoption process. Karkat didn't want to imagine the millions of tiny bite marks that would ruin his favourite, burgundy couch. 

***

 They had already decided on the surrogate mother with no debates, and no other suggestions; it seemed like the most logical choice, given that they wanted the surrogate to be someone close for a plethora of reasons, someone they both knew very well and trusted instead of a random woman that had no strong ties with the couple. 

Karkat had seen those movies, the ones about the topic at hand, which resulted half the time for the film to take a turn and cause the woman that was assigned as a surrogate for the couple that she didn't know personally go completely deranged and obsessive. Dave couldn't convince him otherwise about the subject, though he supposed that if the surrogate did have connections with them, things wouldn't get so hard in the future. Maybe. 

There was an exception to this rule, however; if the person they chose to ask declines, they'd have to turn to getting a stranger's help, with interviews from Karkat first. They hoped, for the very least, that she would take up on their offer. 

It was the evening when the bright green eyed women visited Dave and Karkat, the sun was already dipping down below the sea as warm colors displayed in the sky and gave a gentle breeze that swayed the different rows of trees outside. The hive emitted a cozy, heated aura, something Jade always took note of because of how much it'd make her feel at home. 

Dave was plopped on the couch and watching television when Jade entered, her signature grin formed on her face as Dave slightly turned his head her way, giving back a smile of his own and a tiny wave. 

"Sup, Jade, thought you wouldn't show up." Dave told her, as she walked to the couch.

"I'm sorry! Davepeta and Jasprose surprised me with dinner reservations, and you wouldn't believe how crowded the restruant was!" Jade exclaimed, sitting down next to him. "It took almost a half an hour for a waiter to even get to us for drink orders." She said irritatingly, a sour expression on her face.

"Did you guys cop out before they asked you what meals you wanted?" Dave piped up, pointing to the side. "Because Karkat is making a pizza right now, if you want any." 

Jade shook her head, reaching for the remote across. "We stayed until we got our food, but the staff refused to serve Davepeta what they ordered, at first." 

"Really? What'd they order?" 

"Raw fish." Jade answered plainly as she flicked through the channels, making the blond look baffled for a second. 

"Damn, just raw?" He remarked, only receiving a nod from his friend. Once Jade settled on a channel, she threw a glance at Dave's direction, curiousity seeping in her look. 

"So, what did you guys invite me for? You didn't specify in your message!" Jade asked, setting the remote next to her as Dave hesitated. He brought up his hands defensively, his shades sliding off on the bridge of his nose.

"What, can't a guy just invite someone over without a specific reason?" Dave said, fiddling with the end of his sleeve. Jade tilted her head at her friend. 

"But Dave, you said -" 

Before Jade could finish her sentence, a short, troll bustled in the living room, standing in front of the two with both his hands carrying a plate of the fresh pizza, steam rose off from the plates and collected around him. Karkat handed one of the plates off to Dave, then facing Jade with his arm slightly jutted out towards her for to take.

"I'm fine, Karkat, I already ate." Jade waved him off with a pleasant grin. Karkat nodded, taking a seat in the middle and lifting the piece of pizza as melted cheese seemed to stick to the white plate. 

"Now that you're here, Jade, we can get into discussion," Karkat said, almost muffling because of his full mouth. "about, uh... a spawn organization." Dave swatted lightly at Karkat's arm, gaining both their attention. 

"Spawn organization?" Jade questioned, one of the white, fluffy dog ears on her head flopping to the side. Karkat perked an eyebrow, glancing at Dave. 

"You didn't tell her yet?" Karkat huffed, keeping the plate to his lap. 

"Uh," Dave cleared his throat, hunching over as he brought his steaming pizza to his mouth. "Jade, what Karkat meant by 'spawn organization', we were wondering if you could help us with something, a thing that'll mean a lot to us." He tried explaining, taking a bite off from the pizza to occupy himself. 

"Help with what?" Jade asked in a tone that signified her clueless but curious state. Dave swallowed his food before speaking up again, avoiding to talk with his mouth obnoxiously full, unlike Karkat who seemed not to mind one bit when he would chat as he chewed noisily.

"Help with, starting a family and stuff," Dave said to his friend, fixing his shades back on properly. "We wanted to ask you if you'd be, like, our surrogate mom, since the ectobiology mechanics are down or whatever the fuck is going on with it, and we'd still like to have a kid some way, y'know?" 

"Plus, we  _both_ consider you our closest friend, and we'd rather want someone we can trust with this type of stuff, than some stranger we probably won't even know well." Dave concluded, placing his plate on the armrest of the couch.

Jade's face turned blank for a few moments, her mouth slowly parting, though before she could voice anything, Karkat rushed to interject. 

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to, of course!" Karkat stammered. "It's more like a volunteer thing, really - and besides, there's a whole shit load of other ways to have an offspring of our own, so just so you know the possibility of us having a kid  _isn't_ entirely on your shoulders, you're FREELY allowed to decline if you don't really-" 

"Sure!" Jade beamed, interrupting Karkat's prolong. The two men stared at Jade in surprise, the mutant being the first to sputter again. 

"Wait - holy shit, really?!" Karkat gaped, making Jade nod with an added giggle. 

"I think it'd be an exciting new adventure for everyone," She gleefully told them, shrugging her shoulders. "You guys keep my plants in your hive and even water them when I'm not able to! The least I could do in return is assist you two with carrying a baby." 

"You sure?" Dave asked once more, for reassurance and stability in her decision, which Jade gave another confirmation of her choice. Dave and Karkat looked at each other, the birth of toothy grins painting their faces, lunging forward to Jade and barricaded in grateful hugs, to which the brown skinned women responded with a yelp, but snorted in a fit of laughter. 

***

"Dave, jesus christ, stop breathing at her neck!" Karkat's scratchy tone boomed in their ears, trying to restrain his husband from huddling around Jade, keeping his eyes trained on the small but noticeable bump. Dave lifted himself up from his crouching position, a warm smile that never seemed to leave his face after Jade agreed to surrogate for them. 

"I'm not the one who's already buying baby pjs despite not even knowing its gender yet." Dave chuckled, causing Karkat to puff up his chest in frustration. 

"They're  _gender neutral,_ Dave, little pink, screaming baby boys and girls can both wear onesies that have blue hoofbeasts all over them," Karkat said gruffly, turning his eyes back to his phone. 

"Kanaya's the one that's been bugging me about buying baby stuff already, anyways, in fact she's already sewing dresses and tuxes for it." Karkat laughed, but abruptly stopped when a ' _ping!_ ' sounded out from his phone. 

Dave looked over Karkat's shoulder to see his screen, teal text filling up his line of sight as the mutant rolled his eyes.  Ever since Dave and Karkat announced the news to their other friends, Vriska and Terezi never stopped messaging them, teasing him about his emotional paternal outbursts, and reminders that they certainly made Karkat promise for a playdate once they were born. 

"But what if the baby doesn't like the little bonnet you bought it?" Jade voiced, jokingly. Karkat shook his head, typing for a few seconds before turning off his phone. 

"They better not, I didn't spend an unreasonable amount of money on it just for the baby to kick and squeal at the sight of it." he said firmly, leaning into Dave when he threw an arm over him. 

"That's baby shit for you, cute clothes that you wanna dress jr. in cost fifty grand while baby toys and the like are called embarrassing, sappy names." Dave sniffed, sliding a leg over his other as it stood flat against the floor. 

Jade pursed her lips in thought, slouching her back on the armrest. Her eyes felt weirdly heavy, the space around her not exactly registering in her mind. She brushed back a lock of black, curly hair, positioning herself a bit more upright so she could see the other two beings in the living room. 

"I think I might go home, I'm feeling so drowsy all of a sudden." Jade swiftly removed herself from the couch and rubbed at her eyes.

"Make sure you go to your appointment tomorrow morning, Kanaya said she'll accompany you this time," Karkat murmured, observing as Jade made her way out of the house. A hum vibrated in the mutant's chest, standing up as well and leaving Dave's arm to slide off his shoulders like a ragdoll. 

"I'm gonna go get cereal, all this stress about baby bullshit keeps on making me forget to eat." Karkat yawned, sauntering over to the kitchen, just as he passed the doorway Dave's phone buzzed in his pocket.

tentacleTherapist[TT]  began pestering  turntechGodhead[TG]: 

TT: I take it that you haven't seen the outfit I generously bought for your unborn child earlier. I feel rather hurt that you completely ignored the photo I sent for you and Karkat to see so I will send it to you again. 

The photo loaded slowly, displaying an article of clothing that had an obnoxiously large taco jpeg printed with bright orange block letters. A short lived snicker left Dave, his face returning back to his signature stoic look behind his shades.

TT: You're welcome.

TG: rose that is the most shittiest baby outfit i have ever seen i am most definitely dressing the kid in that on day one

TG: also why does it say "taco princess" what if the baby ends up being a boy

TT: I have my ways of knowing.

TG: knowing what

TG: is this some Seer bullshit rose

TT: Maybe.

TT: Anyways, if you were being honest about liking that outfit, you're gonna love the next.

TG: what the fuck is up with everyone buying this kid clothes so early their drawers are gonna be filled to the fucking brim

Before Dave could send another text, an image flashed suddenly on his screen; the other clothing Rose was referring to, laid flat against a bed and ruby red saturated. The design on this clothing probed a groan from Dave, a dumb pun between ant and 'aunt' was sewed onto it, completed with a lighter red shaded heart. 

TG: thatll be used less so

TT: Are you trying to imply that my nibling won't love me, Dave? That's hurtful.

TT: I can feel my own heart shattering, pieces of it scattering about with nothing to glue them back together. Though, perhaps, seeing yours and Karkat's child wearing it once they're born might heal.

TG: idgaf

TT: I will be the favourite aunt, you know.

TG: nah i bet jade will be their favourite aunt

TG: or maybe roxy might become their favourite guardian out of everyone bc even aranha seems to love roxy with her whole bloodpusher

TT: Hmm, I suppose I have some competition then.

TG: yeah but speaking of this baby situation i need some remotely good advice

TG: first time parent to another yknow since lily is part human you gotta at least know a bit of how to care properly for regular babies bc uh 

TG: personally i have no clue how to be a parent in the first place especially since i never had a positive paternal figure i could learn from 

TT: It's alright, Dave, you don't need to explain. I understand. 

TG: okay phew 

TT: However, I can't really help you with parenthood either, because if you've forgotten I'm literally in the same boat as you. 

TG: i mean i did expect you NOT to know that much given how your own mom wasn't really all that good but you seem to be handling a mixed species baby pretty well so you have to have some slightly helpful parenting secrets 

TT: Unfortunately, I don't. I guess I've mostly just been winging it, and if I'm being frank I'm surprised you find my parenting skills ideal. 

TG: hey lilith seems like a good kid she has a lotta good manners that only you and kanaya could successfully teach to a toddler 

TT: Believe me, it wasn't that easy behind the scenes; despite being a spawn of Kanaya and I, Lilith is still a learning girl, it's utterly chaotic for us to wake up and find our daughter dangling from her crib. 

TT: But thanks. 

TG: don't mention it 

TG: tbh im sure whatever you do with lilith will be a good enough vision bc me and karkat are practically just floundering fishes out of water with no idea wtf were doing 

TG: you gotta be the fishermen that scoops our flailing asses and saves us then hands us off to a child patient which ends up being our ultimate demise bc we dont know how to parent

TT: Dave, I just told you, I don't have a knowledgeable pattern for how I take care of my daughter. I don't even know what type of advice to give! 

TG: but you gotta 

TT: No. 

TG: cmon rose youve always been an amazing mom even before you had lily 

TG: all the grubs loved the shit out of you 

TT: I never said I was a terrible mom, I'm at least decent; but there is definitely better parenting advice on the internet. 

TG: rose 

TG: rose youre doing it again youre doubting yourself god dammit 

TT: Am I? 

TG: yuh youre trying to downplay all the times lilith would spit up all over you and cry for hours on fucking end and you always had the patience that just seemed to come naturally to calm her down

TG: of course im not forgetting kanaya either shes also a spectacular as hell mom and so are you 

TG: making all your achievements look like fuckin nothing is bad rose 

TT: That's really sweet, Dave. Maybe I have, ah, been belittling myself too much. I'll try to tone it down more, before Kanaya gets on my case as well, and you know how that goes. 

TT: Regardless, I still don't think I'm fit enough to pass on infant rearing advice. 

TG: well its a start 

TG: anyways i gtg 

TT: Alright. I'll see you later then. 

TT: Wait, also Dave!

TG: what 

TT: I'm sure you'll be a "spectacular as hell" dad, as well. 

TG: daw 

***

 Looking himself over in the mirror, once or twice mussing up his bleach hair to reorganize it into a better style, always evidently looking the same; Dave swept his hands over his white shirt, fiddling with the collars for a moment before throwing a glance behind him. 

Karkat was already prepared and ready to go, leaning against the wall as he waited for Jade to emerge out of the bathroom. Jasprose and Davepeta floated idly around the living area, waiting as well for their beloved girlfriend to come rushing out. 

"We gotta get to Lilith's birthday party in a few minutes." Dave announced to no one specifically, though it provoked a response from Jade. 

"Just a minute!" she yelled, grunting for a moment. "I can't believe she's already turning two, I feel like I finally understand when people claim that time goes by so fast." 

Karkat hummed in agreement, pressing his arm against the wall. "Yeah, not only that, but you're also due soon in like, three months." 

Jade huffed on the other side of the door, turning the knob and finally exiting the bathroom, her long hair now neatly tied into a braid. 

"I can't wait until the baby's out," Jade groaned, Jasprose seamlessly gliding to her side and putting her paws in between her dog ears. "Pregnancy is so exhausting!" 

"We'll be even soon enough once she's born, because nasty ass diapers and getting woken up at like three in the morning are all things me and Karkat are gonna have to deal with." Dave said, a hint of fatigue already present in his tone at the thought. 

Coincidentally, as if by Rose's luck, the identity of the unborn infant was revealed as a girl; proceeding a line of questioning heads to turn towards Rose, who simply shrugged with a knowing smirk on her face. Dave, on the other hand, absolutely knew there was something peculiar about the ironic taco themed uniform. 

As thoughts raced throughout the mutant blood's head when he fussed with his own collar, one struck him like a bowling ball to his head and made him realize something so painfully obvious as his eyes widened; him and Dave hadn't even decided on a name yet. 

"What the hell _are_ we gonna name the poor little shit?" Karkat barked, snapping his head at Dave. In turn, Dave hesitated to answer, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

"Hadn't really thought about that, but uh," the blond shrugged lightly, walking over to his husband. "I always thought Jackie was kind of a nice name." 

"Like Jacqueline?"

"Nah, just Jackie, but I do have a nickname that came along with it," Dave replied casually. "AJ." 

"AJ?" Karkat peered, earning a nod of confirmation from Dave. 

"I think it sounds purrty cute." Davepeta piped up, making contact with the ground, then looping their arm around Jade's. 

Karkat mulled over it, chewing the inside of his cheek before emitting a neutral noise. 

"I mean, Jackie doesn't sound too bad, it  _does_ admittedly seem adorable," Karkat concurred, crossing his arms as he turned a heel towards the door. "I'm not gonna call her AJ, though, that just seems pointless and almost like one of your human customs to dumb down an individual's name, for the sake innocence." 

"Aight, that's valid," Dave said coolly, stopping in his tracks suddenly. "Wait, did you get a present for Lilith?" 

"Shit." 

***

Dusk casted through the opened blinds, hitting the tall shelf that packed itself with movies, light running up on the turned off television as Karkat lazily dragged his finger up on his phone repetitively, his cheek pressed on Dave's shoulder, briefly gazing over to the notebook Dave stored for rap lyrics, scrabbling words Karkat couldn't care to make out.  

The mutant blood's eyes started to droop, trying to fight back the nagging tired feeling as his scrolling became inconsistent by now. Abruptly, his phone buzzed a considerable amount of times, not waking up Karkat entirely, but enough for him to keep his eyes from sliding shut. 

He didn't get any time to softly click on the messages to pull them up, as Jade's number appeared on the caller ID, igniting surprise in Karkat as his throat tightened. Swiping to answer and placing the phone close to his ear, a booming voice ringing out made the troll cringe. 

"Karkat, for fuck's sake!" Jade barked on the other line, loud enough for Dave to hear and make him lower down his pencil, concern very noticeable behind his shades. The tone of Jade's voice almost seemed to indicate that she was in pain, furthering Karkat to swallow roughly. 

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Karkat's pupils constricted, cursing under his breath as he waited for a response. A loud huff was heard, as well as Davepeta's voice but it registered as distant, and then -

"I'm in labor, dumb ass!!" Jade yawped into the phone. Dave jumped off the couch while Karkat fumbled, keeping the phone pressed hard against his ear while his eyes frantically searched around the house, for something. 

"Uh, where are you?" Was all Karkat could muster, watching Dave flash-step to the door and keep a tight grip on the handle. He couldn't make out the rest of the conversation from afar, but the moment Dave saw his eyes go wide as saucers and nod vigorously, he opened the door immediately, then took the mutant troll's hand as he hung up and dashed out with him. 

Once Dave and Karkat arrived to the hospital, Rose was already waiting at the entrance with Roxy and John, the two presumed Kanaya voluntarily stayed at home, not wanting to hire a babysitter. When the group moved to the waiting room, Jasprose was kneading at the leather chairs, springing towards Dave and Karkat when she spotted them. The sprite had gotten kicked out from the room, according Jasprose as she flicked her wrist, having caused havoc for the nurses while she had good intentions to tend to her girlfriend. 

As expected, the entire day passed with a blink of an eye, dully looking at the shiny floor that was painted with fiery orange squares and blue triangles, only one important thing on the couple's minds. 

Dave temporarily took off his shades, in order to rub away the overwhelming need to sleep from his eyes. Sliding back on his beloved shades, a nurse speed walked to their direction, beckoning them to follow her. Dave and Karkat wasted no time, quickly dragging their feet across the hall, entering the room to glimpse at the sight of Davepeta carefully taking the bundle of blankets from Jade, the latter slowly dozing off before giving the two new people in the room a tired smile. 

Davepeta floated over to their alternate counterpart, waiting for him to grab the newborn, purring out a 'congrats' as Dave finally took her into his arms. 

The first thing Dave and Karkat took note of was the few strands of soft, blonde hair, nearly getting startled when her chubby arm shifted an inch. Karkat gazed thoughtlessly at the newborn, moving in closer into Dave's side, a wild grin curling on the taller man's face. For a minute, Karkat ripped his eyes away from her, staring at the passed out Jade; offering an appreciative smile, despite her unconscious state. He'd have to thank her enough times once she rose. 

***

Little hands mashed pathetically at Karkat's cheek, the short standing troll responding with an amused sounding noise, tenderly moving down his adopted daughter's arm from his face. Her light green eyes looked up innocently at Karkat, a look that got him to completely melt inside (though he'd never admit that, of course). 

Karkat lowered himself down onto the floor, placing Jackie on a mat with careful movements, his hand firm on her back for support. Dave ambled over to them, crouching down in front of Karkat and surveying Jackie, carelessly watching the two month old shake a rattle rapidly with no clear signs of stopping. 

Glancing up at Karkat, Dave went ahead and pressed a kiss to his cheek, catching the mutant off guard as he swiftly turned his gaze towards him. Dave took another swoop, leaning forward and past Jackie to properly kiss his  _husband_ \- until a sudden knock on the door interrupted the act. Quickly backing up, then hoisting himself, Dave flash-stepped to the door, opening it to be greeted with Rose and Kanaya standing in front of him, Lilith speedily letting go of both their hands to collide herself into Dave. 

The blond let out a surprised noise, laughing for a minute as he lifted Lilith into his arms. 

"Fast," Dave commented, earning a mischievous giggle from his niece. "Gotta new rap that needs some local thoughts on, wanna check it out?" 

Lilith nodded enthusiastically, trying wriggle out of Dave's hold. 

"But first," Dave started, halting the two year old's squirming. "I need you to meet someone." He gestured over to where Karkat and Jackie were with a free hand, who was already scooping her up from the mat. 

Lilith stared from across the living area, taking as his que to walk over to the couch and plop her down. Turning to Karkat, Dave received the baby from him attentively, cradling her for a milisecond before going down on one knee to position himself at the same level as Lilith. 

Dave offered a clear glimpse of her, shifting Jackie a bit closer to the hybrid, enough for her to see. "Meet your cousin AJ." 

Lilith gazed at her, hesitantly reaching over and lightly poking at the exposed tiny hand, causing a reaction of the baby's hand to twitch. Dave moved Jackie a little more closer, holding her up above Lilith's lap and nudging his shoulder. 

"You wanna hold her?" Dave asked, waiting patiently for Lilith to answer as she seemed to stare for awhile longer, obviously indecisive. Breaking contact from her new cousin and looking up at Dave, she shook her head. 

Dave shrugged, retracting his daughter back two inches. "What do you think of her?" 

"So small..." Lilith murmured, flickering her eyes back to Jackie. "Also ugly." 

"She's just a baby, Lily," Dave told her firmly, letting out an amused sound anyway. "Give her a few more months." 

"You were even tinier than she was, y'know." he added, making Lilith throw him a confused look. The sudden movement in Dave's arms made him stir his attention down, an audible whine ripping out from Jackie. 

"Looks like she wants your uncle Kar." Dave observed, twisting around towards Karkat's direction and handing her back. Once Karkat had Jackie in his hold, Rose and Kanaya moved closer to him, taking a look at the baby themselves. 

"I'm surprised," Rose hummed thoughtfully, averting both the trolls attention to her. "It's baffling to remember that Dave had doubts about his imminent parenthood." she signaled them to look at the display; Dave made motions in the air, pretending to operate his turntables, grinning as Lilith giggled, before he made his way to his room to fetch his notebook. He always seemed to be the best with children - after Roxy, of course. 

Kanaya leaned over Karkat, cooing lightly at Jackie and jutting out a finger in her direction, letting her curiously grab ahold of it. The jadeblood emitted a low mewl when Jackie's green eyes met her much darker green hued ones, drenched in adoration. 

"Ohh, Rose, do you remember when Lilith was like this? So very frail and dependant on everything." Kanaya uttered, rubbing her thumb softly against Jackie's small knuckles. 

"That was only two years ago, Kan." 

"Exactly!" Kanaya huffed, placing a hand on her close friend's shoulder. Karkat glanced over at Rose, his eyebrow arched in confusion, to which Rose physically replied with an unknowing shrug of her own. 


	15. PL4YD4T3S

Streaks of colorful hues decorated the individual sheet of papers, small finger prints dotted around the corners and then a pressed palm that coated the paper in a pleasant purple. 

Kanaya viewed as the two toddlers played with the water colors almost thoughtlessly, Terezi shifting in her spot on the couch next to her, leaning over Aranha's shoulder. The young tealblood responded with a push of her hand, against Terezi's nose then shaking her head, covering the paper as much as possible with her forearms. 

Terezi licked the yellow color print off from around her nose, chuckling as she moved back into the couch. 

"Cagey." Terezi commented, provoking Aranha to look at her for a split second.

"It a surprise!" Aranha said, Terezi raising a hand in defeat, playfully murmuring out a litany of 'okay's. 

Kanaya contemplated; she contemplated about many things at the moment. Grazing her black painted nails at the underside of her chin, as she submerged herself into her thoughts, hesitating for a minute when looking at Terezi from across the couch. 

In a few matter of moments, the jadeblood clapped her hands together, purposely loud enough in order to receive her guests and child's attention. Kanaya gave a warm smile to Lilith and Aranha, slowly rising from the couch. 

"Would you girls like to eat something now?" Kanaya asked, earning nods of their heads as they eagerly went back to dirtying their hands with water colors. 

Before the jadeblood trekked over to the kitchen, she tapped Terezi on the shoulder, signaling her to follow.  Terezi obliged, standing up and ruffling Aranha's hair, then trudging to the kitchen with Kanaya. 

Opening the freezer, Kanaya pulled out a large, red box, with pizza bagel bites plastered on the front. 

"Could you hold this please?" Kanaya passed the box, the blind troll accepting it as Kanaya searched for another item in the fridge. Shifting through gallons and forgotten left overs, Kanaya retrieved a carton of strawberries, happily plucking one from the container.

"You need help with easily microwaveable food?" Terezi blurted out from behind her, causing her to spin around and face the tealblood. 

"When did I say I needed help with that?" Kanaya said, biting into the fruit as sweetness splashed onto her tongue. "Also I'm not putting them in the microwave, they come out soggy and technically not edible - at least, for me." 

"It's easier," Terezi shrugged, making Kanaya stick the tip of her tongue out in disgust. "Vriska and I only use the oven for  _special_ occasions." 

"Or maybe it's because you two can't bother to remember to take food out from there." 

"Correct." Terezi grinned, placing the box on the counter, then shifting onto the tips of her shoes to sift through the cabinets. 

Kanaya grabbed the frozen box, leaving the strawberries in its place instead as she reopened the package. She slid out the white tray delicately, thinning her lips into a line. 

"Are you sure there's nothing you need help with?" 

"No." Kanaya answered, putting the pizza bites into a platter. 

"Then why'd you want me over here?" Terezi inquired, turning her gaze down to the carton an inch from her, curiously taking a strawberry and examining the sweet, red fruit. 

"Ah, just, to consult." Kanaya cleared her throat, placing the last pizza bites on the platter before walking over to the oven. 

Terezi bit into the strawberry carelessly, piquing a brow as pink pigmented juice slid down from her chin. "Consult? About what?" 

Kanaya set the timer, placing it near the stove then looking at Terezi, shrugging her shoulders almost casually.

"Well, before we get into things, I'm sure you've had a questionable longing for Alternia, despite it being adamantly horrifying," Kanaya started, reassurance washing over his chest when Terezi nodded honestly, realization that she wasn't alone. "Lately, I've been having that exact feeling, it wasn't there before, really, but after Rose and I had Lilith it made me mull it over that.... I have long abandoned any Alternia restrictions, especially ones that encase my blood color." 

Terezi hummed thoughtfully at her statement, crunching the strawberry leaves in her hand. 

"And that's a good thing, isn't it?" Terezi uttered, hefting herself up onto the counter. "You're actually  _free_ to do whatever you want here, your blood caste is basically irrelevant now." 

"Though, it's not to say that Earth C doesn't have its faults either, because there's always at least one group of people like that every where - but it sure as hell isn't as noticeable and in your face as Alternia was!" the tealblood stated with firmness in her tone, Kanaya rubbed at her wrist rather dubiously. 

"Yes - yes, you're right, but I-" 

Before Kanaya could continue with her sentence, a cry broke out from the living room, alerting both trolls immediately and causing them to scramble out from the kitchen with swift movements. There, Kanaya and Terezi were confronted with a blinding light that required squinting and blocking the glow with the back of their hand. 

A sharp yell that Terezi recognized as her daughter's voice calling out for her, probed the tealblood to shuffle forward despite the irritating shine. Without any anticipation, the burning light fell abruptly, giving Kanaya back the ability to see the situation properly without her eyes straining. 

Lilith was bawling with her arm clutched closely to herself, lines of tinted blood seeped from her tiny hand that pressed roughly against her forearm. Aranha, upon getting her retinas almost burnt and the desperate sobs filling the area, had teal tears running down her cheeks and collecting at her chin. 

Terezi quickly swooped in, gathering Aranha into her arms and calming techniques that her and Vriska always used. Picking up Lilith off from the floor, Kanaya warily removed her hard gripped hand from her limb. Her eyes went wide with alarm at the sight of the quite large gash on the hybrid's skin, enough blood was oozing out for a mother to worry her head off. 

"Lilith, what happened?" Kanaya croaked out, sliding her own hand over the wound in protection. The only response from Lilith was just hiccups and a point of her finger that was directed below at Aranha. 

A quizzical expression fell on Kanaya's face. She didn't understand how Aranha could've damaged her that badly, the young tealblood was harmless and careful with anything she was around, unlike her own mothers. 

Kanaya shuffled over to Terezi, Lilith still safely secure in her hold as she went down on her knee. 

"They might've played a tad roughly," Kanaya said to her friend, waiting a few moments for Aranha to calm down before interrogating what happened while they were in the kitchen. 

Brushing away the last hot tear, Terezi cupped the sides of her daughter's face, gaining the wriggler's complete attention. 

"Did you hurt Lilith?" Terezi asked, setting her voice as motherly and warm as she can muster. Aranha took awhile to reply to her question, blubbering for a minute before she breathed in sharply through her nose. 

She hummed out a 'yes', latching onto Terezi's wrists rather tightly. "I-" 

"Scratched!" Lilith blurted, her skin beginning to illuminate and getting ready to blind the party in the room once more. Kanaya's brows furrowed together, running a soothing hand over Lilith's hair, to lower her mood down. 

"The injury she gave her, must've done an odd impact to trigger a sudden glow." Kanaya drawled. "I had no idea she could even do that." Pride elevated in Kanaya's chest - though, she tucked that away, what with the situation at hand. 

"Aranha scratched her pretty deep," Terezi mused, looking back at Aranha. "What happened?" 

"It was acc-" Aranha paused for a second, fumbling with the word until Terezi understood her mispronounces. 

"She said it was an accident," Terezi stated, taking the young tealblood's hand into hers, caressing her small fingers as she peered at her nails. "I need to file your claws." she gave a light chuckle, trying to relieve the area from stress. 

"I should go and aid Lilith's wound, before Rose comes home," Kanaya said, examining the fresh injury closely then putting a bit of pressure around it, watching as drops leaked. "It might take awhile. Could you keep an ear out on the timer going off?" 

Terezi nodded, allowing Aranha to wrap her arms around her and press her head underneath her chin. Kanaya stood up, still observing Lilith's forearm as she made her way upstairs and towards the bathroom. 

Rose was definitely going to burst with worry and bewilderment, Kanaya was sure of it. That was the least of subjects rolling around in her mind, however; what with Lilith being so young, it didn't doubt Kanaya one bit that teaching her daughter how to control her newfound glow was setting itself for hardship. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this was abnormally short!! I've been feeling sick lately and I wanted to get this out quick before I end up getting worse. (also if you're wondering, dirkjohn and callijaneroxy are being added soon since all votes went towards yes, I just haven't put them in the relationship tags since they haven't appeared yet lol)


	16. Fesh Pincess of Carapace Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey g, would you make me a sandwich?

It was early in the morning when Rose and Kanaya made their way through the Carapace Kingdom, yellow and purple flashing throughout the location. Rose adjusted the languidly hybrid in her arms, gently prying her fingers off from the cotton of her derse outfit, the clothing she always wore when visiting the kingdom, as was appropriate. 

Kanaya slid her hand into Rose's, clasping her hand with a warm smile to her wife added. The carapaces seemed extremely eager to see the important figures; some citizens would walk up close to them and offer them a hug, others would simply wave them a greeting as they passed by. 

Lilith gazed at the carapaces over Rose's shoulder with glassy eyes. She rarely visited the kingdom, she didn't even have a uniform for the occasion like her mothers did, to which was why Rose and Kanaya were at the kingdom. After a lengthy conversation, they didn't see any peculiar reason to not get her a personal outfit for the occasion; though, the only thing they happened to disagree on was what dreamer Lilith would've hypothetically been. 

The attire was supposed to be a surprise for the three of them, made from the kingdom's local seamstress that used to be under Kanaya's wing. Rose and Kanaya seemed to be the only ones in their small family excitedly anticipating this visit, differentiating from how groggy Lilith acted. Entering a bright yellow building that towered over the kingdom, Rose and Kanaya trekked through the halls, reaching a wide ranged area with a round meeting table set in the center. 

To their revelation, Roxy and Callie were lounging about in the room, the pink eyed blonde seamlessly grabbed a glazed biscuit from the steaming basket placed on the table. 

Before Roxy could take a bite into it, their eyes flew up at across the room, a grin that seemed awfully welcoming crossing their face when they noticed Rose and Kanaya at the doorway. With the biscuit still clamped in their hand, they shot up from their chair and gave a small wave. 

"Hey, Rose! Kanaya!" Roxy greeted, walking around the table. "I wasn't expecting to see you guys here." Rose offered a smile to Roxy. 

"We're here for a commissioned outfit," Rose said, turning her gaze at Lilith. "For her." 

Roxy nibbled on the biscuit with curiosity. "Is it 'sposed a surprise? I always thought Kanaya would be the one crafting all her dresses." they giggled, switching the biscuit to their other hand as the honey that was drizzled on the baking goods began sliding down uncomfortably on their fingers. 

"We had a heated debate about it, since the outfit in question is her designated kingdom attire." Rose told them with a smirk thrown in. Roxy widened their eyes, snapping their fingers as they swallowed a chunk of the treat. 

"I mean, Idk if it can work like this, but Lilith does look a lot like Kanaya, maybe in turn it gives her more of a chance to be prospit?" Roxy shrugged, earning a glare that signified Rose's hurt from the betrayal. 

Kanaya smiled, almost bordering on a smirk. "Thank you, Roxy, I'm glad you are in agreement here." 

"Are you just going to ignore the nose I obviously passed onto her, among other things," Rose scoffed, brushing her hand over the hybrid's fringe that greatly resembled her's, deliberately getting Kanaya and Roxy's attention towards it. 

"I don't think it works like that, anyways." 

The feeling of Rose touching her hair managed to stir Lilith awake, peering at Roxy then brightening her form when her eyes adjusted. 

Roxy shielded their eyes with a surprised yelp, crinkling their eyebrows when suddenly the luminescence dimmed down as fast as it turned on. 

"Oh my god, Roxy, I'm so sorry, it's something new and she - she doesn't really know how to control yet." Rose frantically apologized, giving Kanaya their daughter who quickly accepted. 

The jadeblood, as obvious and plain, was in charge of assisting Lilith with controlling her glow; the first second Rose saw the bandage on the hybrid's arm sent her into a spiral of panic, then the abrupt moment of a familiar glow that Rose adored flashed before her, prompting a string of questions and worries that seemed never ending.

"I didn't know she could glow." Roxy simply said in response, an airy chuckle escaping them. 

"Neither did we," Rose admitted, watching as her wife swayed Lilith's hands from clinging onto her horns. "She culminated it after receiving a terrible injury two days ago, during her playdate with Aranha." 

"Oh, isn't that how rainbow drinkers generally get their glow on for the first time? Except with a little more bloodshed, I guess." Roxy mused, chewing off another piece of the honey biscuit. 

"I can only be grateful that she didn't have to endure what I went through to activate my rainbow drinker prowess." Kanaya murmured, letting Lilith have a hold on her horn for a quick minute. 

Averting the conversation, Roxy chucked their thumb back towards the table. "Do you guys want any biscuits? Jane dropped them off earlier and they're really sweet." 

Lilith perked up in Kanaya's arms, raising her hand in the air and squeaking out 'me'. Roxy smiled at her, going ahead and taking her from Kanaya. 

Rose then linked her arm with Kanaya's, gliding over to the table and joining Roxy. Calliope stepped to the group, giving Rose and Kanaya a hug as a warm greeting. 

Roxy picked out a biscuit from the beige paper secured around the sweet treats, sedulously handing it to Lilith. The hybrid excitedly took a large bite into it, reeling back from the unanticipated red jelly spewing from the biscuit. 

"They all have different fillings," Roxy informed her, giggling at the reaction. "It's just jelly, Lily." 

Lilith, cautiously, bit into it a second time, purposely avoiding consuming the jelly filling by picking off from the top and parts of the biscuit that only had a light colored smear. 

"What brings you two to visit the carapace kingdom?" Callie asked, running a hand over her yellow attire, flattening the dress out a bit. 

"We're just anticipating a commission from the kingdom's seamstress; fitting clothing for Lilith for when we embark on strolls around here." Rose said to the cherub. Callie let out an amused sound, turning towards her lover and the young hybrid in their arms with a kind smile plastered on her skull. 

"Well, she is titled as princess here in a technical sense, yes, so appropriate clothing would be required." Callie stated, continuing to gaze at Roxy's direction. Finishing the breading, Lilith allowed Roxy to eat the remains of the biscuit that was coated in jelly. 

Reaching up to Roxy's dark shaded sunglasses, Lilith proceeded to pull on them weakly. "Uncle Dave." she suddenly mewled, after studying their features for a minute. 

A snort spilled from Roxy, readjusting their shades on their face. 

"I'm afraid that's not your mumbling uncle, little love," Kanaya's voice reverberated behind them, saving the situation from rolling into awkward territory. "This is your...um...?" 

Kanaya trailed off, as she glanced at Roxy with a curious look in her jade eyes, met with a shrug from the blonde.

"I don't know what I want her to officially call me still, but I'm definitely not stealing Dave's name," Roxy chuckled, holding her up in the air. "I'm pretty fine with whatever she decides to call me." 

At this, Lilith's lips went thin, then murmuring out an unintelligible sound. Roxy quirked an eyebrow, looking over at Kanaya for an answer, though the jadeblood's face mirrored their own quizzical state. 

"Nnn." The hybrid hummed, opening her mouth slightly and showcasing tiny fangs.

"What's that, Lily?" 

Before a word escaped her, a white colored carapace entered the room, beckoning Rose to follow them once they got her attention. Carefully grabbing Lilith from Roxy, Kanaya followed suit, walking out of the room and leaving the other rulers to themselves. Intruding into another area the building hosted, a short carapace drowned themselves in colorful fabrics, narrowing at an aqua cloth before noticing the important figures they were waiting for. 

Disentangling themselves from the mountain of unused fabrics, the seamstress grabbed ahold of Kanaya and Rose's hand, pulling the couple towards the back of their workshop. Rose threw a snarky look up at Kanaya, indicating her confidence and one that drew a bothersome expression from Kanaya. 

They were met with a fairly small sized frilly outfit, designed with a peculiar shade of pink. 

Rose felt surprised and confused about the color yet grateful for the carapace's time, gesturing towards the seamstress with a gentle demeanor. Kanaya seemed just as perplexed, as she lowered down Lilith into the ground, keeping a hand at the side of her hair to make sure she didn't run off, her troublemaker daughter.

"This looks absolutely gorgeous and we're very thankful for your work, but ah.... the color scheme of the dress doesn't seem to correspond to either-" Rose was cut off when the carapace, quite sternly, snapped their fingers, shuffling over to a desk tucked at the corner with a paper that covered most of the furniture sitting atop, brushing the ruler and pointed pencil aside. 

After peeling away the paper from the desk, the carapace handed it over to Rose, Kanaya looking below her wife's shoulder as they examined the drawn design for the commissioned outfit thoroughly. 

The conclusion the seamstress had settled on, from what Rose and Kanaya figured, was supposed to be a combination of their respective moons; to which Rose and Kanaya manifested mixed feelings about, though a fair result instead of it being one or the other. 

As the adults shifted into what seemed to be a lengthy conversation over the dress, Lilith loosely slid her mother's hand off from her head, not wasting a minute when Kanaya didn't notice. 

She'd rather explore the kingdom that was practically foreign to her, than listen to her mothers prattle on. 

Taking silent, baby steps towards the exit, the hybrid glimpsed back at the group, somehow still oblivious about her absence beside them. 

Though, no matter how oblivious they displayed themselves as, it was safer to take small and easy walks out of the room. But then she got impatient. Naturally.

Quickly scurrying out of the area, without looking back once, Lilith tumbled through the halls and towards the outside of the building, the obnoxious yellow of the walls and floor already hurting her eyesight. 

When Lilith made it out of the lean building, she was confronted with mobs of carapaces pacing at every turn and overfilling the streets. It felt crowded, almost, as she shyly scanned the area. From what she could make out from the waves of bustling, there were food stands located in the heart of the kingdom, complete with stores and other adult akin places that Lilith wasn't too impressed by. 

It wasn't until long that the two year old became self aware of her position; standing solidly in place at the entering of the building and quite in the residents way. She didn't want to go back inside, that was certain, she fully anticipated for her parents to be rather enraged with her going on an impromptu walk around the wide kingdom. 

So why wasn't she already taking steps? 

Wherever she would go, one of her mothers would always accompany her, or at the very least another family member such as Dave. She didn't want to run back inside and fetch Roxy to come with her, either, no doubt they would go ahead and return her back to Rose and Kanaya. The only adults she knew that would always oblige with whatever she requested, or somewhat more than the others, were Vriska and Terezi; and they weren't here.

She supposed she had no other option. 

With a leap and concealing the anxious exclamations bubbling up in her, the hybrid delved into the swarming crowd, prudently slipping through the carapaces' legs without causing a topple of bodies. 

The residents didn't pay no mind to the lone child, possibly too occupied with their own business, giving Lilith less of an overwhelming situation. 

Sifting pass the carapaces with weak nudges to their legs, a sudden weight pressed into her, immediately causing her to inevitably fall over on the ground with a painful ' _thump_ '. 

Her back buzzed for a moment, scraping her elbow against the asphalt as she scooted up from the ground as careful as she tried, the need to cry out for Rose and Kanaya strictly held back behind her tongue. 

When she looked up to see what caused the commotion, she was met with an inky carapace, dressed in raggedy cloths and only a few good inches tall. Lilith narrowed her eyes at the suspect, finding the outlook of the carapace very familiar. Almost looking like...

"Mayor?" she piped up, the last letter falling flat and resounding as a 'w' instead. The carapace stared blankly at the hybrid, lifting their thin hand and giving a pat to her head. 

Then, they reached for her hand, easily getting the child to oblige to follow, what with her having no adult guide around outside. Lilith observed her surroundings, dark green eyes flickering over to busy streets and focusing on the fabrics wrapped around the carapace she was following. 

Now that she was a bit closer, she spotted how loose and big the clothing fitted on them, almost draping to the ground and tightly knit it was to the carapace's neck to prevent just that.  From all the different types of fabrics her troll mother sewed, she could pin point for sure what they were wearing wasn't supposed to be for clothes. 

"Flag?" Lilith squeaked out, receiving a responsive glance from them. Though most likely a mistake, as Lilith came to the conclusion that was the carapace's name; at least, dubbed in her mind. 

Soon arriving to a pleasant purple building, a portly, white carapace sat at the front door, watching as children carapaces frolicked around but not too far from the shelter. 

Once they took in notice of Flag, she waved calmly at them, a gentle smile imprinting on her face. Flag greeted back warmly, apparently enacting a conversation as their hands fluttered in the air. 

If Lilith's eyes weren't deceiving her, she caught a glimpse of light red sweeping their cheeks, not very visible but with enough peering, deemed she was right. 

Nothing clued Lilith in with what they were exchanging, not even knowing why they stopped here and what exactly it was. And importantly, why were there so many children gathered here, as young carapaces ran outside and went back into the shelter, then more would scamper back out. 

Her confusion was cut off when Flag abruptly picked up the hybrid from the ground, holding her up directly at the portly carapace. 

She squinted her eyes keenly at Lilith, studying her momentarily before pinching lightly at her cheek, smiling at the high pitched giggle that erupted from her. Something about her aura was absolutely maternal, making it comfortable to be around her.

She then retracted her hand, looking over at Flag with an expression that Lilith couldn't describe. However, they leisurely started to lower Lilith back on the ground at the movements of her hands; a furious blush creeping on their face, whether from embarrassment or being flustered. 

The snowy white carapace gained a stern look on her face, then dissolved when she patted their shoulder, travelling down their arm and taking back her hand to her side. 

The blush on Flag's face was obnoxiously visible now, the carapace quick to wave goodbye and grasp tightly onto Lilith's hand, trudging away the building and into the swarm of bustling. 

Lilith tried paying no mind from the awkward interaction, or the odd amount of children that seemed to live there. 

A delicious smell wavering in the air managed to assist her, as puffs of smokes rose in the air and individuals with plates of food became more reoccurring in her view. 

She glanced up at Flag, curiously tugging at their clothing but didn't receive an answer. Unexpectedly, they hoisted up Lilith onto a stool, a paper plate settled in front of her with slices of watermelon decorating the hunk of steaming meat splattered between two loafs of bread.

Lilith threw a confused look towards the carapace accompanying her, to which they responded with a nudge of their hand at the plate, then turned their attention at the runner of the food stand, resuming back to shifting their hands in front of them. 

Focusing back on the plate, Lilith grimaced at the sandwich, the meat not looking very appetizing as small strings of blood seeped out from the bottom. She went ahead and ignored it, opting to enjoy the fresh fruit pieces surrounding it. 

Once the fruit's juice splashed onto her tongue, an immediate familiarity surged in her mind; the sour taste of the watermelon wedge hit her, reminding of the same way they would taste when Kanaya prepared them for her and Rose in the evening. 

Strangely and ridiculously, Lilith had completely forgotten about her mothers still in the tower, perhaps prolonging the same conversation concerning the dress and not processing that their daughter was missing, hopefully. 

Taking a second watermelon slice into her mouth, a voice boomed from behind her, a voice she recognized clearly as her throat suddenly constricted. 

Shifting in her stool, she caught sight of short, blonde hair in the midst of black and white residents, shades glimmering in the sun with a green skull monster holding onto their hand from behind them and a finger thrusted into her direction. 

"Lilith!" 

The hybrid shyly grasped onto the wooden counter, prompting a puzzled expression from Flag before Roxy and Callie appeared without warning. 

At this, the carapace widened their beady white eyes, clutching at their worn out flag attire as Roxy scooped up Lilith. They realized, with full horror, they accidentally abducted their favourite celebrity's kin.

"Lilith, don't run off like that, your moms were worried about you," Roxy said sternly. "They almost sent out a big ol' search party." 

Lilith looked guiltily down at the ground, throwing her head to Roxy's shoulder. 

Callie side eyed the nervous carapace, putting a claw underneath her chin when they started to chirrup in trepidation. 

"Roxy, I think perhaps we should take this carapacian along with us." Callie told them, hanging onto her lover's arm with a soft hold. 

Roxy glimpsed at them, pursing her lips in thought then nodding in agreement, beckoning them with a free hand and a soothing smile given. 

Kanaya chewed softly at the base of her finger; Rose checking her phone  every few minutes if Roxy had sent a text yet, the pink uniform wrapped neatly in a plastic casing and draped over her lap. Rose grabbed ahold of Kanaya's forearm, gripping tautly. 

"Look who we finally found!" 

The sound of Roxy's voice made the couple jump, relief flooding them when Calliope and Roxy entered the room, an anxious carapace in tow. 

Without missing a beat, Rose and Kanaya hurried over to them, making Lilith startled as her parents smothered her in between them. 

"Don't ever leave so suddenly without asking, it's dangerous to go out with no paternal guidance." Rose lamented, pressing a kiss to her hairline. Kanaya sighed deeply, settling her fingers through Lilith's thick, dark hair. 

"Flag!" Lilith coughed, pointing towards the shrinking carapace at Callie's side. 

The carapace only sweated further as all the eyes in the room focused on them, fidgeting with their thumb as a nervous tick. 

"They were taking care of her when we found her, think they bought her food too." Roxy said, patting their back comfortingly. "You can go now." 

The carapace nodded at them, giving an eager wave before padding out of the tower quite calmly. 

"Bye, bye." Lilith called out, widening her eyes out of surprise when Roxy picked her from Rose's arms. 

"You'll see them again when you come, don't worry - just hopefully when you're not getting yourself lost." Roxy stated. 

Lilith slumped in their arms, beginning to feel exhausted from the morning. "Okay, nana." 

Rose and Roxy stared peculiarly at the hybrid, then a fit of bubbly laughter spouting from Roxy. 

"Nana? That's what you're gonna call me?" 

Lilith nodded at her statement, pushing Rose to become tense. 

"No, Lily, that's not-" 

"It's okay, Rosie, trust me." Roxy reassured, cuing another chuckle from them when the young hybrid mockingly stuck her tongue out directly at her human mother. 


	17. Funny Games

Cracking open a warm orange soda, Dirk trudged through his garage, which also happened to be his workshop where scraps of rusty metal skewed across the floor, later to be picked up and used. He took a large sip of his soda, nearly choking on the lukewarm drink when the sudden noise of someone knocking on his door echoed into his ear. 

Dirk shuffled out of the cold and musty area and over to the front door, nonchalantly opening it to reveal his ecto-daughter and her wife standing at the doorway, Lilith grasping onto Kanaya's hand while her other was occupied with holding her cat doll. 

Rose gave him a mellow smile, opening her mouth to say a simple greeting. "Hello, Dirk." 

"'Sup," Dirk nudged his head up responsively, hooking his thumbs onto his pockets. "Didn't expect you to come by, since you guys don't visit often." 

Rose placed a hand over her chest, her expression turning into a mock surprised outlook, offended almost. "Do we, now? Well, that's certainly a shame, we don't want poor Lilith to grow up without ever having frequent interactions with her uncle grandpa." 

"Just uncle Dirk is fine, thanks." he inserted, almost insistent. 

"Yes, well, your designated familial title isn't what we came to discuss," Rose said, patting her daughter's head. "Kanaya and I have decided that now would be a great time to take a day off from our parent responsibilities, and after getting reminded that you and Lily have never spent enough time together, we wanted you to watch over her. For a few hours."

Her offer definitely didn't sound like an option, more of a firm statement. Dirk retained his stoic look while he mulled over his thoughts; there was likely no chance Rose and Kanaya would consider his declination, eyeing the bag strap curled around Kanaya's arm, looking quite full of items required to care for a two year old hybrid. 

Breathing out a soft gust of wind from his nose in defeat, Dirk shrugged his shoulders, unhooking his thumbs from the pits of his pockets. 

"Yeah, sure," Dirk obliged. "Will it be a long period of time that I'll have to be a responsible uncle?" 

"Until the evening, yes." Kanaya answered, sliding the strap down to her hand, then passing it over to Dirk for him to take. 

"Please call us if any problems arise, I strictly advise so," Rose added in solemnly. She threw a smile towards Lilith as her wife retracted her hand from the tiny one, lightly pushing her off to Dirk's direction. 

Both the blond man and the hybrid shared an awkward stance, to which Rose chided automatically. 

"It'll go swimmingly." Rose said with a comforting smile. It was unclear whether Rose was speaking to one of them specifically, what with Rose and Kanaya continuing to speak mannerly to their young daughter without hesitance; though the motherly look that dawned on her face fondly and gently, it was definitely for Lilith. 

Then, Rose made clear eye contact with Dirk's flickering orange eyes behind his dark shades, signaling him to listen thoroughly. 

"Lilith is due for a nap in a few minutes, so that'll kill you some time - oh! and please don't feed her too many sweets, Kanaya and I are trying to moderate it a bit closely now that she's in an important growth stage."

Dirk nodded in response, tightening his grip on the strap and pushing the door a tad more open. "I don't think I even have any certain sugar treats in my house, that I know of for the very least." 

"Good, going to you instead of Dave was a brilliant idea then, because I swear that Strider doesn't have any limitations." Rose shook her head, temporarily grieving for her niece. ' _Hopefully Jade takes a stand in and guides her to eating healthy._ ' 

Rose and Kanaya gave him a quick goodbye, the jadeblood planting a tender kiss to her daughter's cheek before tossing Dirk a protective mom death glare and then walking off with Rose in tow. 

Closing the door, Dirk set the bag down against the wall, watching Lilith drag her doll by the tail and treading cautiously in the home that was severely unknown to her. 

He paused for a moment, briefly collecting his thoughts; what  _was_ he supposed to do while a toddler was visiting? He felt dumbfounded at this. 

Truthfully, he was never experienced with children, didn't have a faint clue. From what he's gathered and observed over the past years, was that they needed constant attention and supervision, often easily throwing tantrums and making messes with which poor objects are in their grasps. 

And Lilith wasn't an ordinary being; she was a  _human-troll_ one, meaning she required different needs at different times, as she was  _different_.

Everything is bound to go horribly wrong, Dirk concluded. 

Leather sounds suddenly snapped Dirk out of his frozen state, making him perk up and leave the bag. He walked to the couch to find Lilith scrambling up onto it, perching herself comfortably on the cushions and leaning onto the arm rest. 

Right. She needed to be asleep soon. 

Dirk hesitated, shuffling over to the side she was laying. How was he supposed to put her asleep?

"Go to bed, alright?" 

To his surprise, Lilith shook her head, propping herself up on the arm rest and keeping her doll secured underneath her. 

Dirk narrowed his eyes behind his shades for a moment. According to what Dave would tell him, she was usually an obedient girl and rarely gave her parents a hard time to put her to bed. 

"Uhh," Dirk stood still briefly, then making his way to a spot on the couch. "How do your moms usually get you to sleep?" 

At this, Lilith stretched her arm out, forward and slightly still, and brought up her other hand and brushed it over multiple times in the air. 

Dirk stared at her blankly, completely not understanding what her charade represented. Lilith furrowed her brows, dropping her arms down.

"Violin." 

Dirk's eyes flew open in realization, feeling dumbfounded. Rose must've played her violin as bed time melodies for Lilith; which was a sweet thing, until Lilith demanded it from him as well. 

"Uncle pa!" 

"It's Uncle  _Dirk._ "

"Uncle Dick!" 

Dirk slid off the couch, disappearing into the halls temporarily. When he came out, he held a rectangular shaped object in his hand. He pulled out his phone next, tapping away at it before calming violin notes streamed out of the object. 

He placed the item next to her on the arm rest, breathing out in relief when Lilith slumped back against the couch. After lingering on the spot, making sure to confirm that the hybrid was dozing off, Dirk trekked back to his garage freely. Hopefully she stayed asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

~

Thick sounding cracks emitted from Dirk's hands as he stretched out and relieved his wrists. Looking up and peering his eyes at the clock hung up high on the wall, a half hour had almost passed. Taking a gamble that Lilith was still in the throes of sleep, as she hadn't peeped a noise, Dirk resumed his attention to his project; a small shaped robot, which seemed to be throwing a fit and not wanting to work properly. 

Picking up a tool he saw fit, he went back to work. Another good few minutes swept by easily in silence, nothing bothering the blond until a sudden voice squeaked at his side. The voice almost made him jump in his skin, developing a vice grip on the tool as he looked down at the light gray child. 

Her big green eyes stared right back at him, her hair tousled and the tone of her voice indicating she just woke up from her nap. "Uncle Dick." 

Dirk pondered on the name for a moment, before shaking it off and turning back to his bench. "You know what, let's go back to uncle grandpa." 

Lilith stumbled into his garage, examining the space around her. She tugged at the fuzzy cotton sewed to her moth pyjamas, quite curious at the metal laying across the ground. 

That curiosity soon died down as a blue flame sparked up near Dirk, the fire scraping the robot's metal in careful featherlight touches. 

"Uncle pa," Lilith suddenly mewled out, sounding wary. Her frightened tone brought Dirk's gaze away from the machine. 

"'s not gonna hurt you, don't worry." Dirk reassured, as best as he could for a two year old. "I'm building something, it's what I like to do." 

Lilith's worry soon turned into curiosity, then easily shifted into disinterest. He supposed tinkering in machinery wasn't for a young toddler like her, just yet. 

Lilith padded out of the garage, to which Dirk didn't pay much mind to as he brushed off any dust littering the inactive robot.

It wasn't until a loud crash resounded throughout the house that Dirk snapped his head up, growing a tad concern. 

He sauntered out of the room and scanned the living area for any troublemaker hybrid scampering about. 

He couldn't spot her anywhere. Dirk crinkled his eyebrows, his calm demeanor chipping away one by one. 

God damn it. 

At that moment Dirk heavily considered Dave's insistence on baby proofing his house; for the most part, he never thought to oblige, he wasn't the one having babies anyways, only hosting them when Dave came by with his own daughter and even then he wouldn't let her out of his coddling arms. 

But now, Rose and Kanaya's daughter was left alone in his care, very much capable of causing havoc in his house and possibly getting hurt. 

"Lilith?" There was a bit hesitance in Dirk's voice, but it hastily wavered as a faint ' _uncle pa_ ' came from the hall. 

When Dirk entered the halls, a disarray of blankets and large sized robots cluttered the passage way. A soft groan escaped Dirk as he viewed the mess, putting a leg over it before his other joined him on the other side. 

Dirk then walked into a nearby room - his house only offering two bedrooms - and came to face with Lilith, who had a soaked toy wrapped in her arms, positioning herself in the spot where sunlight casted onto. 

"It wet," Lilith told him, holding her cat doll up for him to see. 

"How'd it get wet?" Dirk raised an eyebrow. 

"From toilet." 

Dirk didn't bother to inquire any further. He stepped into the room, and picked up the doll by its ear, feeling the doll heavy with potentially contaminated toilet water. 

"I'll go dry this." Dirk stated, proceeding to walk out of the room as Lilith followed close by. 

~

Dirk sat on the couch with a bored mind, the TV screen in front of him displaying colorful hued creatures that nearly looked haunting, symbols perched on the tops of their head as they scavenged a grass knoll. Lilith laid on the far opposite side of the couch, now content with her warmly dried beloved doll. 

Though, that soon was punctured as small taps pressed into Dirk's arm, garnering his attention. 

"I hungry." Lilith said, earning the blond to shrug after a few seconds. What was he supposed to feed a two year old?

"I don't have anything healthy for you to eat, as per your mom's request, but you could have this." Dirk went to the fridge and pulled out a half empty bottle of fizzy soda, then took out a carton of vanilla ice cream. 

"You ever had a root beer float before?" Dirk inquired, opening the soda's lid with ease. 

Lilith responded with a nod. "Yes! nana has."

' _Nana?_ ' Dirk thought quizzically, before it pieced together. She was talking about Roxy. 

"Yeah, well, Roxy doesn't make them as good as I do." he replied. The way Roxy had made root beer floats definitely was creative though, he admitted. They'd toss in some of Callie's sour candies as well, then top it with whipped cream in an extreme sweet dessert, one that was bound to cause a stomach ache if he drank too many. 

Lilith, as expected, took a great liking to the drink, much to Kanaya's dismay. 

"Noo," Lilith disagreed, shaking her head. "Nana cool." 

Dirk stayed silent for a moment, shrugging in defeat and pouring the soda into a light blue colored mug. "Honestly, that's fair. They are." 

"Cool than you." 

He never felt so called out by a toddler before. 

In a quick matter of seconds, the root beer float was prepared, a scoop of vanilla ice cream bobbing in the pool of coke soda. 

Handing her a spoon to go along with the mug, Lilith happily stabbed her utensil through the thick ice cream ball, scraping the spoon against the mug's inner surface as she brought it to her mouth. 

"Do your moms always put up with your funny games of mischief?" Dirk mused out, his head resting on his palm. Lilith only replied with a small raspberry blow, indulging in more of the sweet drink and emitting clacking noises from the compact of her spoon hitting the mug. 

Checking the time on his phone meanwhile, it was already past 8am; the possibility of Rose and Kanaya returning to a hyper Lilith made Dirk tense up in realization, his shoulders then sagging when he felt another tap to his forearm. 

"Wan meat." she hiccuped. The mug was empty, already, save for a small amount of soda that gathered at the lines of the round blue mug. Surely, that was enough of sweet drinks for her. 

~

The clock struck near to midnight, but Rose and Kanaya hadn't arrive yet, strangely. The entire evening went by so swiftly, peering between the blinds to see shimmering stars brighten the sky caught Dirk off guard. And yet, the hybrid didn't nod off, either. 

She was full of energy, in fact. Jumping up and down on the couch cushions and letting out high pitched, bubbly laughter, which Dirk let slide. Getting her to stop didn't cross the blond's mind, only if she tried to step a boundary and play in his workshop, did he halt her. 

He was merely a babysitter, after all; an impromptu babysitter with not much experience. 

Lilith's sugar rush eventually diminished after an hour, her parents still not knocking at the door, or a call either. Her crash only resulted in her sulking and pestering her uncle grandpa about her mothers, beginning to grow fussy from the drowsiness slowly latching onto her, which only gave Dirk a hard time. 

The violin music didn't assist, neither did putting on a movie. 

Dirk made an attempt to call Roxy, then Dave, then Jake - and after that, he dialed anyone on his contact list. None were available at such a time. 

Then, what seemed like an absolute sound of relief, a loud thud against the door alerted Dirk to rise from his seat. As soon as he opened the door, Lilith ran straight through Dirk's legs, almost knocking him over. 

Kanaya, gladly, swept up the weeping child into her arms, creating a tight hold around her and cooing softly at her daughter. 

Rose grabbed the knitted cat doll from the ground, having been dropped the moment when Lilith jumped to Kanaya's arms and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. 

"What the hell took you so long?" Dirk asked quizzically. Rose coughed into her hand, whether to clear her throat or not was unclear, but the faint blush that painted Rose's face was very much visible. 

" _Kanaya_ got me sidetracked," Rose blamed, her tone sharp as she side eyed her wife frustratingly, making the jadeblood smirk without shame. "Was our little darling good, however, unlike my childish wife?"

The blond certainly didn't want another attempt of babysitting, at the very least not solely by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this sweet chap because I have a less fluffy one coming up next :devilhorns:


	18. a mother will do whatever is best for her children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> re: jelly biscuit scene from chap 16

Rose couldn't describe the feeling that culminated inside her as she tucked her daughter into bed, preparing her for the first day of entering school. Her small fangs dug into her bottom lip, excitement oozing out of her since the first minute Rose signed her up. 

A faint glow shimmered from Lilith's skin, its radiance peaking for a moment until it delved down into a lukewarm glow, then turning off altogether. Rose smiled down at her, taking a seat on her bed and pressing her hand into the fleecy blanket as tiny creaks sounded out in the room. 

"Make sure you fall asleep soon, I need you to awake early tomorrow morning, little love," Rose murmured, receiving a responsive nod from Lilith. "I know you're already an obnoxiously early-riser like your mother, but you are most definitely fussy in the mornings as well."

She lightly bopped Lilith's nose with her finger, causing Lilith to scrunch her nose then stick her tongue out. Rose emitted a giggle, leaning down to kiss her cheek. After kissing her goodnight, Rose began heaving herself off the bed, a sudden tug at her shirt stopping her when she barely slipped off. 

"Mommy, I can't sleep." Lilith squeaked up at her. Rose hummed thoughtfully, disconnecting the little fingers gripping her black shirt. 

"How do you know if you haven't tried yet?" Rose inquired, smirking down at her. Lilith folded her hands, glancing down at them with a sheepish look. 

"I don't  _want_ to sleep yet," Lilith muttered, hurrying to add on. "Uncle Dave told me something interesting today." 

Rose piqued an eyebrow at the statement, Dave was always telling her 'interesting' things; things that were usually idiotic and  _always_ involved something about his favourite president's next coming. "Oh? Care to expand, Lily?"

"He talked about how you and mama used to be when you were playing a game, only a little." Lilith told her, causing the blonde's purple discs to minimize, wringing her hands. 

"What game is he talking about? He didn't want to tell me!" Lilith huffed, quite cutely in Rose's vision.

With all the hardships and bloodshed, was telling her daughter about the game even appropriate? She didn't want to frighten and confuse her, wary that detailing her overwhelming experience with the horror terrors and dying to achieve godhood might be too much for her five year old mind to wrap around. 

And she was absolutely  _not_ going to give Lilith nightmares of when she went grimdark; how ridiculous it would be for a daughter to have horrid dreams of her own mother being controlled. 

Perhaps her and Kanaya's ballad would have to due, it was about time she learned how her mothers met anyway. 

Turning her attention back to Lilith, Rose studied her daughter's face for a moment. Despite her facial structure being closely similar to Rose's, everything else about her appearance looked so much like Kanaya. Her troll pointed ears, her glimmering jade green eyes, her inky hair and the way it jutted out at the frames of her face like her troll mother's, the way her adoring small fangs were neatly showcased when she smiled, her light shaded gray skin. 

Rose was absolutely mesmerized by it, and it only squeezed at her heart more when she noted her own genetics passed onto her - she was a direct link of pure love. 

A smile curled on Rose's face, falling back down on the bed and pressing her hand into the fluffy bright orange blanket. 

"Instead of reading you a book about monsters tonight, do you want to hear how your mother and I fell in love?" Rose offered, immediately getting Lilith to perk up and nod excitedly. 

Rose shifted in her spot a bit, trying to get comfortable before facing her daughter with a cough to clear her throat. 

"I'm sure Kanaya has at least told you that the first time we saw each other in person was when we were practically being blinded by a fiery ball of green?" Rose started, receiving a nod in response (she never really questioned this setting, due to the already spontaneous and weird nature of her human mom and her friends being Gods, relieving stress from Rose and Kanaya having to share more details) then continuing. 

"Now, if I recall correctly, I don't think we've ever told you  _how_ we fell in love, hm?" 

Lilith shook her head rapidly, putting all the other extra of her attention that was wandering around in the room towards her mother. Rose smirked. 

"Well, for three years, we were travelling on a meteor -" 

"Meteor?" Lilith looked quizzical. Rose quickly replied with a low sounding noise. 

"Shooosh, don't interrupt me while I'm sharing the utterly most romantic tale that will ever be laid upon your little ears," Rose said firmly, resuming back. 

"As I was previously saying, your mother and I spent half of our teen years on that meteor, along with your uncle Dave, Karkat, Terezi, and Vriska. And ah, there was another troll accompanying us as well, but not many companions liked him very much, especially not Kanaya. She'd go clown hunting occasionally, as she called it."

"Clown hunting?" Lilith peeped, suddenly clutching onto her blanket out of fear. "The same hunting that mama does for clowns who eat little girls?"

Rose snorted, to which earned a glare from the scared and slightly gullible hybrid. She almost forgot that, in order to coax Lilith to sleep early and on time, Kanaya had massed a false myth entirely based on Gamzee, tutting her daughter from the stairs as she played with her plushies passed her bedtime and pretending to hear honking noises that got dangerously close to their home, sending Lilith to scurry up the steps and right into bed without a rebuttal. 

Before she switched off the lights, Kanaya would promise her she'd chase off the supposed child-eating clown lurking and trying to slip into her room, whipping out her chainsaw for affect and reassurance. When really, her and Rose went on their usual nightly strolls. Eventually, Kanaya found it quite comical, and put enough devotion that she started leaving out empty bottles of faygo during the evening; as much as Rose saw it equally entertaining ever since Kanaya told her when she was four, she would thoroughly scold her wife when she went a bit too far, which rarely happened. It especially got a rise out of Vriska and Terezi when Lilith passed it on to Aranha, loud chortles emitting from the parents that could practically hurt your ears after awhile.

"Not at all, but they are actually closely related." Rose smirked, leaning her back against the cream walls. 

"There, I would spend most of my time with your mom, reading and talking about subjects that seemed to loom over our heads consistently back then, watching one of your uncle Karkat's terrible romcoms to point and laugh at them...." 

Her voice trailed off momentarily, a fond look plastering on her face as her eyes lost focus, immersing herself in the memory of the first time she heard Kanaya's laugh, melodic and smooth and very loud, making Rose's heart skip a beat and lunge into her throat as her face and ears felt burned. She couldn't stop thinking about the moment, mulling it over in her head and dancing around her feelings and refusing to budge. 

After pulling herself out of her youthful memories, Rose cleared her throat once more, repositioning her hands, firmly, on her lap. 

"Did you know we didn't have any way to tell the date there? We specifically had to rely on Dave's time powers for that, and even then he was still getting used to them, so we all just guessed as best as we could by going off the last dates we remember - we couldn't even tell whether it was night or day!"

Lilith stared on in interest as her glow flickered on dimly, pushing Rose to continue on with a chuckle.

"It was also quite dark in the meteor, Kanaya's light was really the only source of light we had." 

"Mama told me about that!" Lilith piped up. 

"Did she now?" Rose mused out, making Lilith nod. 

"She said you would always hog her." Lilith snickered, causing Rose shrug her shoulders lightly. 

"I mean, I admit I suppose I might have hogged her a bit too much, but Kanaya was always the one who was practically attached to my hip." Rose defended herself, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth. 

"Really, she was my best friend, and I still consider her to be just that," Rose went on, controlling herself from drifting off to another day dream. "She understands me thoroughly, and I've never met anyone that matched my snarky banter - it was the most fun conversations I'd have, and I found that she was also great at comforting people during complicated times, even if she didn't grasp onto the issue accordingly." 

"Can you believe I was scared of my feelings for her when I realized I fell for her?" Rose sounded baffled, deeming it ridiculous how fifteen year old Rose locked herself away in her dull and quiet room for a whole week, rarely letting the door open for Dave - unless it was important - she opted contacting him through texts and blabbering about how wonderful she thought Kanaya was and stopping when her throat constricted and the flush on her cheeks became unbearable heat.

Now that Rose pondered it if her past self ever found out that, in many long years later, she'd be married to Kanaya and have a kid with her, past Rose would undoubtedly freak her shit out. This thought prompted a quiet giggle from Rose. 

"When I found out I had fallen in love with Kanaya, I restricted myself to only my room for a few days, like any idiot would if they were so cowardice about confessing their feelings. And of course, your mother got worried, very much so, thinking perhaps she might've upset me without her knowing." 

"I started to come out after that, lest the situation began spiraling into an endless misery and misunderstanding, but it only got worse from there on - I was acting suspiciously different and more nervous around Kanaya, Dave would prod me into telling already, but alas only longing looks and awkward touches filled the gaps." Rose recalled the time clearly, when Dave rolled his eyes intensely at them shyly tucking a hair behind the ear and staring a little too intently in the other's eyes. 

"Karkat jumped in as well in a matter of minutes, giving decent romance advice and cautions about how confusing human 'quadrants' are to your mom, but it didn't prepare her for an addictive issue with... bad juice that brought out the worst in me, it greatly effected our relationship and the very first date we went on.... but, apparently with mysterious luck that I never bared before, she stayed with me through all of it and tried assisting as best as she could." 

' _I really don't deserve her_ '

"Then as time went on, I was able to kick away my old bad habits and mended my relationships that it broke, and after Earth C was created, Kanaya and I hastily got married in a total of two weeks, and two years later, we had you." she concluded, a warm smile forming on the blonde's face, which Lilith immediately reciprocated.

Retelling the period of her life when she lived on that meteor, to her five year old hybrid daughter with wide innocent green eyes, it made her feel so...  _old._

The meteor trip, and everything that took place there, happened so long ago she was taken aback with immense surprise - the struggles, gross honks, her alcohol addiction, the bonding with Dave, and her first kiss with Kanaya, all now unbelievably years old, she wasn't really counting and keeping track; then, married at seventeen and living a better life and following up with getting pregnant when she turned eighteen, was all a bit too much for Rose to handle.

But it all happened in that order! Time just didn't seem to want to slow down, not for a second as a leaf swayed out from its branch and lifted by the gentle wind until it rapidly fell on the ground or on a troll's large horns. 

Rose snapped out of her reverie, clapping her hands together and getting off the bed without any reprimands this time. "I hope you enjoyed hearing about how much of an imbecile I used to be for your mother when I was younger, now sleep." 

Rose kissed her daughter's forehead, tenderly, her face abruptly being pushed away, eyes meeting the curious expression still kept on the hybrid's face. 

"Do you still drink bad juice?" Lilith's tone leaned towards concerned, retaining a tight hold on Rose's sleeve. 

"No, little love," Rose replied, her expression smooth and reassuring. "Now get some rest." 

And with that, Rose finally was able to leave the room freely, smiling contently as she threw one more glance behind herself, then letting the door slightly open with a small creak, enough for the light to seep into her room.

~

As soon as it struck six in the morning, Kanaya forced herself out of bed, sluggishly rubbing her eyes as she made her way straight to Lilith's door. She entered the room, finding her daughter still asleep. 

Kanaya crouched down next to her bed, gently waking her, only to get a dragged out moan in protest. Opting to just do what she usually enacted when Rose refused to rise out of bed, Kanaya went ahead and carefully grabbed Lilith, carrying her to the bathroom. 

"I'm going to need you to take a bath, alright dear?" Kanaya told her, earning a weak nod. 

"It's so early, mama." Lilith groaned, rubbing her eyes before accepting a towel from Kanaya. 

"You have to take a shower, Lilith, it's mandatory," Kanaya said. "You don't want to be the only dirty child there, do you?" 

Lilith shook her head, then climbed up on the toilet lid and waited there as her mother fetched her clothes. 

Minutes after, Rose finally awoke, stretching and pressing a little kiss between her cat's ears, hissing playfully at them briefly. Getting off the bed and walking down the steps towards the kitchen, she gazed at the display of Kanaya combing Lilith's damp hair thoroughly, as the hybrid chewed on a glazed doughnut contently. 

As to be expected, Kanaya had dressed their daughter in a frilly beige outfit, almost resembling maid attire if it weren't for the bow tie that wrapped seamlessly around her waist. Rose smiled, Kanaya immediately noticed at the corner of her eye. 

"Good morning, love," Kanaya greeted, combing down the short hair once more before retracting her hand, setting the brush on the table to give her wife a quick kiss. "You're up quite early." 

"I wouldn't want to miss escorting my daughter to her first day of school, now." Rose said, passing by and heading towards the coffee machine, grabbing the beans from the drawers that was filled with other ingredients and tinfoil. 

"You should hurry with your coffee then, because we have to leave in a few minutes." Kanaya reminded her, taking away Lilith's plate after she was done with the doughnut. Rose nodded, fetching a travel mug then scavenging through the magenta box chalked full of doughnuts, pulling a seemingly plain doughnut and handing it to Lilith. 

The hybrid grinned, taking a bite quickly as chocolate filling exploded out of it, getting her hands dirty. Kanaya frowned, ripping off a piece of paper towels and cleaning Lilith's hands. 

"Rosie, I thought we agreed to not give her too many sweets. Especially in the mornings." Kanaya huffed, licking her thumb and gliding it across the chocolate marks on her daughter's cheek, to which she fussed about. 

"Yes, I know, but she's going to need the extra energy," Rose mused, waiting patiently by the coffee machine to be finished with her mug. "It's  _school_ , babe."

" _Sugar crash,_ Rose, and she only has to go to kindergarten for three hours," Kanaya said bluntly, sighing lowly into the air. 

"I'm much more worried about her... socializing, with other kids her own age, that  _isn't_ just Aranha." 

Rose's head snapped up. She knew exactly what Kanaya was getting at here. 

"Kan," Rose started, her voice imitating a soft tone. "If you're worried about Lilith being out casted by the other children for being a hybrid, I promise you she won't, young kids are more accepting towards the unknown than grown adults. Her teacher is also very kind, if you want to, we can have a quick talk with her before we leave."

Kanaya nodded at the suggestion, relieved a little. The only thing she wished her daughter to have is just  _acceptance_ for being different; she was the only living hybrid on Earth C as of now, and she wouldn't hesitate to bring out her chainsaw if anyone gave Lilith a hard time for being a half breed. Really, Kanaya just wanted her baby to grow up  _without_ any complications and harassment. Like any other normal child. 

Soon, the mothers were off, both holding Lilith's hands and lifting her up slightly above the ground when she would thrust herself forward. Something resonated in Rose's chest; remembering when her own mom would walk her through the thick, squelching snow and to a school that was a little too far away from their mansion, but stubbornly, her mother had made it work. Rose always had an inkling why she was always insistent on dropping there no matter the circumstances, either because she perhaps cared for her young daughter's education or just wanted to get rid her for a few hours. Rose believed the latter more than the former. 

Kanaya's grip on Lilith's hand tightened a bit when she faced the school, crowded with cars and children laughing and running around the district. 

Walking pass the gates and heading towards the blue minty door that kept opening and closing with the children going in and their parents trekking out. Entering the classroom, with Kanaya holding the door open for her wife and pushing her daughter inside, they were confronted with a mass of children; some sitting on a colorful rug that had sewed numbers on each hue square, others either playing with the toys the classroom offered or crying next to the teacher, mourning their parent's absence from the room. 

Rose glanced down at Lilith, who seemed to be slowly moving behind Kanaya. The blonde extended her hand out, offering her daughter to take it. 

"It'll be fine, Lily," Rose reassured, wrapping her hand around the tiny light gray one in her palm. "Come, I'll play with you until it's time to go." 

Lilith smiled at this, following her mother to the toy box. Kanaya smiled lightly, only lasting shortly as it dropped when she made her way to the teacher, giving her a formal greeting before rushing onto the topic. 

"My daughter, um, Lilith Lalonde-Maryam, she hasn't really socialized with other children roughly around her age aside from a close friend's grub, and ah - as you can certainly see, she's not fully one species as would an every day young is," Kanaya stated, moving their attention towards Rose and Lilith pulling out yellow colored objects, from an equally yellow colored box. The teacher nodded wisely, an understanding expression caressing her face, only one or two wrinkles marking her features. 

"I'd very much appreciate it if you could ease her into talking with her human and troll classmates, and observe her carefully to avoid any potential... bullying from the others." she requested, to which the teacher sweetly nodded. 

"Of course, Mrs. Maryam, I'd be happy to help your daughter, it's my duty around here to make children comfortable," she said, folding her hands. "No child will be treated differently because of their species, and I will make sure of it." 

Kanaya, satisfied, bid her goodbye once the bell rung, signaling for the children to enter class already. Before leaving, Rose and Kanaya hugged their daughter securely, leisurely exiting the room and standing outside the firmly closed door. 

Pale green tears slowly pricked at Kanaya's eyes, the jadeblood was quick to wipe them, though not fast enough as Rose noticed without fault. 

"Kan, are you crying?!" Rose snickered, jabbing a finger to her wife's side. Kanaya sniffed, shaking her head with a wavering smile. 

"It's just... she's growing so fast, my baby."

"Ah, yes, a usual milestone for first time parents, though lucky for me I already bawled about it last night so I saved myself the embarrassment of crying in public." 

"Shut up." Kanaya chided. 

~

It was nerve wracking; being presented in front of rows of many eyes trained  _exclusively_ on her, unable to guess what their feelings were with their blank looks. Lilith shifted in place, her gaze sweeping over her classmates before settling towards the back wall. None of the children seemed to be like her, as in the humans with non-gray shaded skin, and the trolls having horns of all different sizes and shapes, also baring endlessly yellow sclera.

She stood out, Lilith was quick to note that. Her throat tightened, sweat forming at the sides of her face as her whole body felt heavy, like as if gravity was harshly pulling her down. A gentle hand pressed at her back made the hybrid jolt, flickering her eyes up at the safe smile her teacher gave her. 

"Go on." she whispered, low and soft, enough to calm Lilith down. The hybrid faced her classroom, clasping her hands together and biting into her lower lip with her sharp canines. 

"Hello," Lilith started, a little bit too low. "I'm Lilith, and um..." the attention suddenly became too much, she opted to bite her tongue, locking eyes on the ground; completely oblivious to her glow switching on and maintaining a reasonable shine, causing unfeigned curiosity to spark in the children.

The tension built around her was snatched away, Lilith's shoulders growing slack. A boy perked up in his spot, his voice ringing loud and clear for the whole room. 

"You can glow? I thought you were human!" 

"She is a human! Maybe it's some super power."

"But she's gray and has vampire fangs, she can't be human." 

The room hastily became noisy, filled with chatters and remarks. The teacher eventually put an end to it, raising her voice then zipping her lips for the children to mimic. To seal a lid on their questions, the teacher gazed down at the green eyed little girl. 

"Well, as they're inquiring about, are you a human or a troll?"

Lilith gaped, hesitating to answer for a few moments. She shrugged her shoulders shyly, an unsure smile crossing her face. "Both?"

For the whole duration of they were let out to play, Lilith was crowded by the other children, asking her more questions and offering her to play with their friends, their entire attention set on her. It made the hybrid feel good, accepted, the overwhelming interactions slowly subsiding though not surely. It did, however, put a grin on her face. 

Later at home, night overtaking the sky, Lilith and Rose sat at the dinner table; the hybrid prattling on about her first day as she colored a pink scarf, Rose listening intently and observing her daughter's drawings. The teacher had sent her classmates home with a sheet they were supposed to turn in the next day. The sheet, in question, displayed an ink colored tree, connected squares printed on it for the children to draw their family, the squares escalating down above the tree root. Rose advised to draw x's over the grandfather squares, as Kanaya didn't have a father and Rose definitely didn't dare to add Bro to their lovely family tree.

After finishing doodling her mothers, uncles, and herself, Lilith moved onto the square that was listed as 'grandmother', specifically connected to Rose's box which indicated her own mother. Rose grimaced at this for a brief second.

Whether the hybrid was drawing Roxy or the older version Rose grew up with, was unclear, though the blonde decided to make a slide and continue to watch Lilith draw and color. 

Kanaya soon walked into the kitchen, at a perfect time once Lilith got to Kanaya's side of the family. Lilith perked up in her chair, knees settling onto the cushion latched above the wood.

"Mama! Who was my grandma from you?" Lilith inquired innocently, making Kanaya halt midstep. 

"Um," Kanaya hesitated, scratching underneath her chin. Technically, in human senses, the Dolorosa was her mother. But she didn't exactly feel as close to that; ancestor just felt like a more appropriate term, though the sheet wasn't including. 

"Well, I suppose I do have a mother, but she had methods that were vastly different from the usual parenting routines." 

Lilith tapped the crayon against the paper. "How was she like? and what did she look like!"

"She was a very caring lusus, probably the more affectionate ones than what my friends received, and she seemingly without fail always managed to soothe me when I went through rough times," Kanaya smoothed her hands over the silky smooth fabric of her ruby red skirt, smiling at the memory of her dear lusus. "As for her looks, I still remember very clearly."

Lilith positioned the crayon over the blank square, excitedly. Then, with specific details, the little drawing of Kanaya's old lusus was finished; a little smudged and the chin not very defining, but extremely endearing, as kid drawings were. Kanaya smiled warmly, placing a thumb beside the doodle. 

Her chest swelled with pride, picturing how elevated her lusus would've been if she knew Kanaya now had a loving wife and splendid child of her own.

~

 Lilith wasn't all too pleased having to repeat the routine of being woken up early the next morning. When Rose wasn't looking, Lilith opted to playing a fever; coughing into her hand dryly and telling her mother she was sick. 

Of course, Rose knew better, and dragged the hybrid out of bed and into the bath. 

It took less minutes than the first day to leave the house. Once again, her parents dropped her off; Lilith immediately got bombarded by her classmates, unexpectedly. She surely thought they'd get over it by now.

This time, overwhelming feelings swirled up inside her, but she fully managed to kick them aside as she kept her patience and kind smile. Unfortunately, it didn't disappear completely, as recess began and children were following her out. 

The way they crowded around her, treated her differently than everyone else, like she was something so special and just an exhibit, not even an inch similar like them. 

Lilith didn't understand  _why_ she felt uncomfortable, they weren't harassing her at all; all she knew was she didn't feel alive to them. She didn't like how there was a very obvious thick line between her and the other children.  

Bile suddenly stung at the back of Lilith's throat, the classmates being too much to handle and her own personal bubble being ripped as they grabbed her hand without permission and examined her claws, her ears, with interest. 

 _Just an exhibit._  

From afar, Lilith watched everyone under the shade. She successfully managed to peel herself away from the hoard of curiosity, eventually dying down when Lilith hid. Observing as they chased each other around, climbing bars and rope then sliding down a slide. None of them seemed to be interested in their friend's hands, asking them a laundry list of personal  questions and similar requests. This made Lilith tilt her head a bit.

Lilith turned her head when she heard steps coming up behind her, the teacher giving her a gentle smile and standing at her side. 

"Why aren't you playing with the other children? Were they rude to you?" she asked, her sweet voice easily making Lilith open up. She hesitated for awhile, the answer to the latter waffling back and forth between two opposing replies. 

"I..." Lilith's voice fell flat, scraping at the ground with her shoe. "it's scary." 

"Don't worry, we'll ease into this." the teacher said, snapping her fingers abruptly. "There's this one little girl that will absolutely love to meet you, she's very nice and I think you two will become good friends. I'll let you girls meet next week's school day, is that alright?"

Lilith beamed. Maybe it wouldn't be as limelight with just one person. 

"Mommy."

Rose lifted her head away from her computer screen, spotting her daughter's small head peeking out the door way. 

"Yes, dearest?" Rose hummed, closing her computer and training her attention to the hybrid. Lilith went ahead and slipped in, walking over to the side of the bed and draping her torso on the sheets. 

"Why am I so different from everyone else?" Lilith asked so sudden, a blank expression marking her face.  "No one in school looks like me."

"Everyone is different, Lilith, they're no exception I assure you." Rose replied, firmly. Lilith picked at the skin around her claw, shaking her head at the response. 

"But I'm a different kind of different," Lilith mumbled. "I don't see any other human and troll hybrid in class or anywhere."

Rose looked very concerned, slightly distressed, biting her lip momentarily before sighing. She patted a seat beside her, Lilith scrambling up and sliding under Rose's arm. 

"Perhaps one day there will be more like you walking around, but for now, you'll have to embrace your cross parentage," Rose soothed, running a hand through her daughter's hair. She always feared this situation might've sparked one day; which made Rose and Kanaya dwell on keeping their baby for the first month. 

"Your mom and I love you so much, Lilith, and you're the most amazing thing we created. You should be proud of your interspecies genetics, it makes you the most unique and beautiful child that has ever graced Earth C." 

"But -" 

"You know those some of those children in school perhaps don't have a steady, stable home life, like you?" Rose said, cutting her off. "You're very lucky Kanaya and I are endlessly and helplessly in love, that only gives you bonus points. I'm sure there's people out there who'd wish to be as special as you, my mismatched joy." Rose nuzzled into Lilith's cheek, kissing her temple. 

Lilith pouted; she wasn't sure if she even  _wanted_ to be special. 

"But I don't wanna be treated so... weirdly," Lilith piped up, sticking her tongue out. "I'm always going to the doctors to get poked and tested, other kids don't have to do that!" 

Rose frowned, deeply hurt by her statement. She didn't know what to say, feeling her breathing become slow and concentrated. "I really wish you didn't need those appointments, very much, but they're important for someone with undocumented existence and experiences; what if you get sick? Something so mysterious and concealed happening to you as you grow up? We're just trying to protect you."

Lilith stayed quiet then. She picked her head up from the crook of Rose's arm, the blonde sighing heavily as she pressed a hand into the hybrid's velvety black hair. 

"....I understand, I suppose." Lilith murmured, bringing a tiny smile to Rose's face. Rose then wrapped her arms around Lilith, her hold so tender and comforting, the hybrid melted into it. 

"Mommy?" 

"Yes?" Rose hummed, rubbing her daughter's back. 

"I have another question." 

"What is it?" 

Lilith shifted a bit in Rose's arms, humming to stall for a moment. "Why doesn't AJ look like uncle Karkat even though he says he's AJ's dad?" 

"No more questions, Lily."

~

Lilith waited in the halls, patiently. She hoped this interaction went less overbearing, needed her personal space. 

The sound of shoes squeaking brought Lilith to raise her glance from the ground, instead making eye contact with a mahogany human girl, a welcoming smile naturally crossing her face. 

The girl trekked to the hybrid, giving her a smile of her own and then offering a hand. "Hi! Are you Lilith?"

Lilith nodded wordlessly, accepting her polite handshake. 

"My name is Emily, it's nice to meet you!" she said, retracting her arm. Lilith simply let out a tiny noise, so the human girl knew she was listening. Her lips went outwardly suddenly, clasping her hands behind her back. 

"You don't talk very much, huh?" 

Lilith's eyes widened, shaking her head before sputtering out a word quickly. "I do! My moms say I'm really shy." 

"That's okay," she smiled, the hybrid's tense muscles relaxing. "Hey, are you that human-troll kid I've heard of in class?"

Lilith nodded, emitting a short giggle. 

"If it's okay to ask, why don't you have horns?" she pointed up at the top of her head. Lilith moved her hands to her head instinctively, her pads ghosting over the spots her horns would've grown. 

"I wasn't born with them." Lilith answered, the girl nodding understandingly and changing the subject in a snap. 

The fact that the questions weren't so piled, so consist, made Lilith inch more to being comfortable around her. She didn't seem to be interested in her troll features, neither human, as she bluntly said with a shrug. This just made Lilith ecstatic; the thought of finally expanding her friendships, without having to bite her tongue and sift through the head aching inquires. With this girl, she wasn't treated so unalive and without feelings.

A more toothy grin plastered itself on Lilith, her canines becoming visible and casting his short length, though soon to grow larger and sharper as she aged.

The girl automatically catched it, her eyes glinting with interest. She pointed at Lilith's face, letting out a litany of 'o's. 

"Woah, I didn't know you had vampire fangs." 

"My mama has them too." Lilith giggled, scuffing her shoe against the concrete bashfully. "So do you -"

Before she could finish her sentence, the girl moved closer to her in a flash, getting a closer glimpse at the fangs. 

"That's soo cool! And you're not even wearing those fake halloween fangs?" the girl asked, receiving a simple shake of her head from the hybrid. Piquing her curiosity, the girl shifted her hands to her own face, making gestures. 

"Can you open your mouth more?" 

Lilith shrugged, opening up her mouth moderately and pulling back her upper lip, so that her fangs were completely showcased. 

Without a word, or anything to signify Lilith, fingers suddenly barreled into her mouth, pressing at her fangs. 

"Do you suck blood? Can you, like, bite into stuff really easy?" 

The hybrid creased her eyebrows, trying to fight back the urge to snap shut her mouth as it stretched around the palm. It had a similar feeling when her mothers took her to the dentist, only probing her back to the other side of being comfortable. 

The close examination of her fangs made her want to gag, her bubble of space subsiding to obscure; she thought this would be different. It made her uncomfortable, too queasy and only poking it further as the girl began shoving her hands to the side of her row of teeth, searching for more sharp than usual incisors. 

Horrid and unwanted. Instincts took in. Her mouth sealed itself up, as it belonged, her fangs slicing thoroughly rough yet squishy, thick material, digging in until her fangs met her bottom row of front teeth and red liquid exploding without expectance in her mouth, flowing down the corners in heavy streams that didn't seem to end. A piercing shout blurred Lilith's ears; it took ahold of her lungs where air stopped cycling. 

~

 " _Mrs. Lalonde?_ "

Rose didn't answer back for a moment, as she was occupied with pulling out her toast from the toaster, planning to compose a sandwich for herself after halfheartedly doing an attempt to clean their house. She earned a lunch break when the hours of scrubbing the bathtub came to a closure. 

"This is her speaking." Rose mused, trudging to the fridge and retracting out a jar of mayonnaise, lettuce, cheese, and ham. She started spreading out the mayonnaise over a piece of warm, crispy bread as the school office talked. 

" _Your daughter, Lilith Lalonde-Maryam, has gotten into trouble at school today, and caused injuries_." 

Rose's eyebrow arched, proceeding to throw the knife into the jar of mayo then tossing ham onto both breads. "How badly was she hurt? It isn't very life threatening, is it?

" _She's not hurt, Mrs. Lalonde."_ Rose sighed in relief, closing back up the  ham bag, then grabbing a single slice of cheese and two layers of lettuce. If Lilith wasn't hurt, why were they calling her to begin with? Did she get involved? She was definitely not the type to bully people, or get into fits with other children. This prompted a bout of interest. 

"Oh, thank goodness. I didn't know what I'd do if Lilith got bad enough scabs."

" _Mrs. Lalonde, Lilith inflicted a bite injury to a classmate's hand."_

Rose froze. What. 

" _The injury to the student, Emily Krapes, seemed to cut deeply into the tissue of her skin with two frighteningly large holes left and she is currently getting sent to a hospital. Her mother wishes to speak with you - the school will not press charges, I can not speak on her mother's behalf."_

She didn't know how to respond. There wasn't no way Lilith had bitten an innocent girl's hand - at least, not intentionally. She'd never do that, her daughter wouldn't ever have an inkling of doing so. Rose swallowed, her throat dry as a bone as she carefully chose her words. 

"I am on my way." With that, Rose hung up. Staring lifelessly at her unfinished sandwich, the breads not being mashed together yet. She ignored it, leaving her lunch on the counter for her cats to jump up and feast on.

As soon as Rose entered the school's area, a hospital and police vehicle parked in the front alarmed Rose, making her dash across to the campus with speed that left her breathless when she reached the office. 

Being directed to the principal's office, Rose was greeted by Lilith sitting at the back, her head hanging low and having an apparent staring contest with the rug.

A woman with strawberry blonde hair glanced at her, fuming with the most solid expression Rose witnessed. Rose slowly took a seat beside her, still confused about the entirety of the situation. 

The principal didn't ease Rose either; his face had sorrow directed at purple eyed blonde written all over his face. 

"To start, in my school, I've never had reports of such urgent injuries," he began, laying his hands flatly on his desk. "We've had fight out breaks, twisted ankles, scabs, things that were usually treatable in about a month or so."

Rose swallowed, nervous, giving one more look at Lilith. 

"Now, despite the mixture of trolls and humans here, I have never witnessed an outright biting situation, causing enough panic to send the ambulance over." he said truthfully, lowering his voice as Rose raised a polite finger to speak up. 

"May I ask, um, what happened - happened between my daughter and Emily Krapes?" Rose inquired, prompting the woman beside her to perk up with a grimace.  

"Your daughter caused extreme bleeding to my baby's hand," she hissed. Rose's eyes widened, her purple eyes dilating. 

"Extreme?"

"Emily's hand wouldn't stop bleeding, a pool had formed at their feet and it was a very scary emergency." the principal added on, only making Rose's heart beat faster and faster within her chest. This couldn't be true, not their Lilith. 

She couldn't even sense her own denial, not even by a mile. 

"I... " was all Rose was able to choke out. She felt herself shrinking when the mother and the principal's gaze fixed solely on her. 

"Due to necessary laws, I'll have to suspend Lilith for three months. She can attend school after that, as regularly, and hopefully the student's hand heals properly." the principal finished, leaning back onto his chair. 

The woman huffed, standing up fluidly. "I'd feel more comfortable if Lilith Lalonde-Maryam  _stopped_ attending this school in particular. She could bite another poor kid's hand off."

Rose glared at the woman, the principal putting an immediate end to the feud's flames before it up roared by dismissing the two mothers. 

Lilith refused to speak, even when they started their walk back home and the air around them was absurdly silent. Lilith always rambled on about her day until she arrived home; this day seemed to be an exception, without surprise. 

Lilith ran immediately into her room, no simple words said to her mother. Rose remained clueless, nothing could have prepared for this. 

A few hours later, Kanaya arrived home, a grin curling on her face as she made her way to her and Rose's bedroom. 

"Oh, Rose, my darling," Kanaya said in a melodic voice, padding closely to her wife and gripping her forearms with a relieved smile. 

"I did it."

"What?" Rose raised an eyebrow subsequently when her mind clicked. 

"I talked it out with Karkat, about my dilemma with missing Alternia, remember? It went very well and he gave me advice how to compete it, since he went through the same phase before." Kanaya told her, letting her hands fall down and connect at their fingers. "I don't know why I was so ashamed to divulge in it before, I feel rather better and free now, so I'm undividingly yours with no old strings attached."

She peppered a kiss to the back of Rose's hand, the blonde managing a smile for her albeit worn looking. 

"That's... that's great, Kan, I'm really happy for you." Rose replied, disconnecting their hands while Kanaya stared at her suspiciously. 

"You sound rather the opposite, Rose," Kanaya frowned, putting a hand to Rose's cheek and looking into her wife's purple orbs. "Did something upsetting happen today? Are you okay?"

"Kanaya," Rose started, sitting on the  couch and nonverbally telling Kanaya to follow. Once the jadeblood sat down next to her, Rose continued. "Lilith bit someone at school today, and it was reportedly bloody."

Kanaya didn't respond; only her eyes flying to the size of a plate and the way her mouth slowly went agape was enough to tell Rose what went through her mind. The silence continued, almost making Rose worried until the jadeblood's voice boomed into the room and caused her to jump. 

"She WHAT?!" Kanaya stood up swiftly, her hands fumbling, not know what to do with them. "Lilith couldn't - she couldn't have done something so ludicrous and awestruck, do you know how our daughter is, Rose? She's too timid to even ask Roxy for her favourite aching treat!"

Rose flew to her feet as well, attempting to calm her wife as she slipped a hand behind her pointed ear and began ministrations. 

"I was just as shocked and in denial as you Kanaya -"

"Denial?!"

"Shush!" Rose patted her cheek. "I'm not fibbing dear, neither is the school trying to sue us,  I also managed go catch a glimpse of the dried blood on the concrete."

Kanaya opted for silence again, tears clouding her view. "She - she couldn't have enacted that on purpose, Rose,  something - something must have triggered her."

"That's what I've been theorizing as well, because though I've accepted it I'm still pondering the circumstances that led to it." Rose stated, her tone firm and steady, contrasting Kanaya's wavering and thick voice. 

Suddenly, pale green tears bursted out of Kanaya, falling back down onto the bed because of her knees seemingly giving up, pressing her hands to her face as she wailed. 

"Kanaya!" Rose yelled, panicked, dropping to her knees and sliding her arms around her wife's waist. 

"I'm such a  _horrible_ mother, I should've - should've seen an incident with her fangs, I should've talked  _\- talked_ \- talked -" the jadeblood started hyperventilating, making Rose get up and wrap herself completely around her wife, shushing her calmly and lightly into her ear with a kiss added. 

"For the record, you are definitely, abso-fucking-lutely not a bad mom, Kanaya,  you're the most caring and attentive one I've seen and your statement is the most _ridiculous_  thing I've heard and wish to unhear, actually." Rose asserted, her voice softening as she went on, her motions shifting to Kanaya's scalp and circulating there. The only response she got was a few sniffs, the jadeblood accepting the embrace and tying her own arms around her wife.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Kanaya, I promise, just  _please_ calm down darling," Rose kissed her temple shortly, then laid a few kisses to her neck before burying her face there. "Lilith hasn't said anything to me, either, she's been in her room all day without any breaks to eat or use the bathroom."

"Rose, we need to go talk to her, that's concerning!" Kanaya suddenly yelped, trying to get up until Rose tackled her to the bed, pinning her to the blankets by her horns.

"The best for all of us is to give her some space, Kanaya, you'll just overwhelm her and possibly cause to be more upset than she already is." Rose sternly said, perching herself on the jadeblood's stomach. 

"But -"

"Shooosh," Rose hummed, distracting her wife by smooching her squarely on the lips and holding it after two minutes had passed. "Once Lilith comes out of her room, we'll interrogate and see what happened, okay?" She just wanted Kanaya to stop sobbing, it was heart wrenching to watch.

Kanaya nodded, a pain abruptly surging through her forehead due to her consistent crying. She winced, the blonde going ahead and massaging where her hands stayed, occasionally planting a comforting kiss to her forehead. They couldn't do - didn't know what to _do_ \- concerning anything about the situation, really, they were helpless; it was irreversible. 


End file.
